Connection
by Starath
Summary: Dealing with a problem alone doesn't always work. Sometimes we need help. And sometimes that help comes from an unexpected person... like a slaggin' Beast Warrior! o.O Note: PG-13 for mild language. 6 Parts. R&R, pleez!
1. Default Chapter

**Connection**

_Part One_

By Starath

Author'sNote : _This series is based on real events that have happened to me in the past month and a half… not counting the Beast Wars part, of course. But it's nice to think one of the Beast Warriors would help me if they really did exist. To warn you, there is a little harsh language within this. As always, the Beast Wars and characters belong to Mainframe Entertainment and Hasbro, while I belong to myself. Special thanks to Landray Depth Charge for helping me with this series. _

There she was again. In his mind. He could see her where she stood in her room, shaking with contained fury and sorrow. He growled. He was getting sick of seeing her all the time. Why had she been connected to _him_? What could he do about her troubles?

_I can't do this. I'm not strong enough. I'm not like them. Never will be. Never never never! Why should I try? I'll fail, I just know it! I'm so scared… and no one can help me. I'm alone…_

He didn't bother shouting at her to shut up; he tried that the first time he heard her inner thoughts. She couldn't hear him, and all he ended up doing is making his voice hoarse. Besides, he had more important things to worry about. He just wished he could figure out how to block her from his mind….

_No no no! I have to go into that room again tomorrow morning. Don't make me go in there, please! I won't be able to do anything! I can't even use BOTH HANDS! Dammit, why can't I just be like everyone else! Then I wouldn't have these demons—_

Attention: Protoform X detected nearby

Depth Charge's head snapped up. "Where?"

A missile struck him from the side, throwing him into a large sand dune. Rampage's cackling laughter filled his audios.

"Right here, old friend!"

Sand avalanched onto the Maximal, burying him completely. It choked his filters while blinding his sight. In the muffled darkness the girl's inner thoughts spoke louder in his head.

_I know I'm better than this! I shouldn't be scared! I haven't even really TRIED yet! I shouldn't care what others think! I'm me! Only I can fix myself! But—but—I can't! I can't do this…_

Rampage stepped back as Depth Charge emerged from the sand dune with a roar, shaking the grains from his body. He shook his head, narrowing an optic mockingly.

"You're losing your touch. You seem to be quite distracted these days."

"Shut up, creep!" Depth Charge whipped out his gun and shot the crab twice. "I am _never_ distracted when it comes to YOU!"

"I beg to differ," Rampage transformed into beast mode and launched himself at his mortal enemy with out-stretched claws. He caught Depth Charge around the middle and threw both of them into the ocean. "But you're welcome to prove me wrong! Bwahaha!"

The water exploded as they made impact, opening up to swallow them whole. Its surface churned and bubbled when they finally disappeared beneath the waves to continue the battle underwater.

Depth Charge gasped at the shock of hitting the water so hard but kept his attention on the horrible creature latched onto him. As they sank to the bottom, he kicked Rampage and grabbed the claw around his middle when it loosened for a moment. He forced it to release him and snatched the other claw as it flailed about in the water. Pulling the crab directly beneath him, Depth Charge slammed both feet onto his back and landed hard on him as they hit the ocean floor. He pinned one of the claws down with a foot as he took out his gun and pressed it into Rampage's head.

"_Die!_"

A brilliant flash ripped through the ocean, followed by a rumbling explosion. Depth Charge flew through the water and burst into the air. His world became dark as he fell and smacked into the earth flat on his back, skidding to a stop. Panting hard, he stared at the out-of-focus sky. He blinked. A _night_ sky. It had been day a cycle ago! Sitting up fast, he realized he was very cold. The beach had become covered with several inches of snow. Confused, he gathered a handful of the white stuff and stared at it.

"What the Pit…?"

There was no ocean, no beach, no huge sand dunes, no hills and cliffs where he had been fighting Rampage. Instead he was sitting in a flat expanse of snow with pine trees dotting the area. In front of him lights shined onto the snow from the windows of a yellow house. Above him a nearly full moon gave an eerie glow to his armor as he sat in darkness, well beyond those lights. Depth Charge rose to his feet, brushing off snow and gritty beach sand. Movement past one of the windows caught his attention. A human girl leaned up against a glass door as she forced on a stubborn boot. He had seen her before, in his mind. This was the girl he'd been hearing …. He smirked.

"Maybe I can tell her to get out of my head now."

_I hate taking out the garbage at night… who knows what's out there… Megatron could be waiting for me for all I know… ha, ha, I wish. The Beast Wars isn't real, as much as I'd like it to be._ _I would really prefer NOT to sit in my room being all miserable, dreading tomorrow's gym class, thank you so much._ _At_ _least_ _being a Predacon would be fun; I wouldn't have to face any of my problems at all._ Christine hopped around; barely keeping her balance as she finally slipped on her right boot. She glanced at her mother who was reading in her favorite chair and shook her head. Very few knew about the monsters she faced all alone. Her parents weren't one of the few. They expected her to do well all the time no matter what. They wouldn't want to listen to her problems anyway. After zipping up her coat and putting on her gloves, she picked up the garbage bag and headed out the door.

Rushing through the cold garage, she stood in front of the movement sensor in the driveway and waved at it until the outdoor lights flashed on. Satisfied, she stepped over a large snowdrift and went around the house to the garbage can. Little light reached the area, but it was enough to make her sure nothing could sneak up on her. Allowing the lid to slam shut after depositing the bag, Christine gazed up at the stars and easily found the constellation Orion. She always liked the blue star Rigel and had been thinking to give it a nickname like she had with the red star Betelgeuse. She giggled, wondering if Megatron would care that she had named a star after him.

"Probably not."

The cold winter chill was starting to get to her, so she took one last glance at the stars and turned to go back into the garage. She stopped, her breath freezing in her throat. From the darkness of her backyard two red optics stared at her. Moonlight reflected off of the owner's body, making him a pale ghostly blue. She recognized him instantly. Depth Charge. _Depth Charge!_ _He's not supposed to be REAL! _Christine rubbed at her eyes, convinced she was seeing things, having finally gone mad. There was simply _no way…_ But when she looked again, he was still there. And he had taken two steps forward.

"Holy freakin' slag…" Christine backed up until she hit the house, swallowing hard. He was still quite far away, but that didn't make it any better. He was HERE. In the _real world_… That meant the Beast Wars had to be real too! A dream come true! –But then why was she so scared that it felt like a nightmare? This could not be really happening! And why Depth Charge? She never had paid much attention to him before. It was always Megatron or Dinobot or Terrorsaur that she always imagined visiting her---

_He's getting closer, you idiot! RUN!_

Panic gripped her in icy claws and she spun away from the house, prepared to jump over the snowdrift and dash into the garage.

_Wait_.

The command was not spoken harshly, but firmly within her mind. Startled, she slipped on a patch of ice and landed in the snowdrift. Heavy footsteps approached from behind and stopped. Mustering up her pride and courage, Christine got up and dusted herself off before turning around to face him. Depth Charge stood a few yards away but still towered over her.

"We need to talk, kid."

"W-we do?" She squeaked.

"Yes, we do." He shifted awkwardly, suddenly at a loss for words. How would he say he'd been hearing her innermost thoughts and problems for a week? He had been seeing through her eyes and watching her the whole time, too.

"H-how did you get here?" The girl broke the quiet.

He shrugged, searching for the right word. He found it. "Magic."

"Yeah, I'll say." She managed a nervous giggle.

An uneasy silence fell between them as Depth Charge debated on how to tell her what he knew. Finally he decided to just get to the point.

"I've been hearing your thoughts for a week, and it's getting slagging annoying," he began, "All your troubles and fear and doubts. I've felt your terror and self-anger. I've been able to see through your eyes and see you sometimes as well. It's been _very_ irritating--"

"Y-you have!" she sobbed, interrupting him. "Oh my God… I'm so sorry… no one should hear all that but me!"

He took a breath, annoyed at being interrupted, and crossed his arms before continuing.

"I've also heard your cries for help, even though you will not ask anyone out loud. You do not wish to be alone, even though you want to deal with everything by yourself. I have no idea why we became connected or how I was brought here, but for some reason I am here to help you now."

"You've heard _everything_?"

"Yes. Everything."

Tears brimmed in her eyes. "I'm so sorry that you heard all of that… these are my demons to fight, not yours! Only I can do this alone!"

"Yet you wanted someone to help you so badly I have crossed realities to… _wherever_ this is. You obviously can't do this alone."

"But I must! Only I can save myself! I'm so sorry I bothered you, I didn't mean to!" Her cheeks turned wet as she cried, "You have so much to worry about already, Depth Charge!"

"How do you know my name!" He demanded sharply.

"It... It's a long story. I just do. And I know about Rampage. And the Beast Wars."

"Hmph. Fair enough. If I can know about your thoughts, you can know about the Beast Wars and I."

"Yeah." She sniffled, drying her eyes with her gloves. He watched her, wishing she would stop crying. Crying females always made him uncomfortable because he felt like he couldn't do anything about it, and it brought back too many memories from the past when he came too late and couldn't help the sobbing victim. It made him feel helpless and frozen. Depth Charge was all about action.

"What's your name, kid?" he asked, feeling foolish. He'd been hearing her thoughts for a week but didn't even know the girl's name.

"It's Christine."

Frigid arctic wind howled between them, chilling both metal and bone. Neither said a word though as they looked at each other, sizing the other up. A puny scrawny human. A tall impressive warrior.

"You're bigger than I imagined you to be," admitted Christine, examining him with wide eyes. "A lot bigger. Do you ever get stuck in places too small for you?"

"No… I typically don't worry about places I can't fit within very well…"

"Oh. Sheez. You gotta be at least twice my height…"

"I wouldn't doubt it." Depth Charge shifted and his metal body creaked from the cold. He went straight to business. "So what are you going to do about your problems?"

Christine's gaze fell to her feet where she kicked at an ice chunk and talked to the ground. "I dunno. They are demons I've been fighting for a long, long time. Suddenly they've been thrown in my face all at once and I can't find my sword."

"It sounds to me like you won't even look for it."

"Yeah. Probably."

"Something needs to be done about it."

"Yeah. I know."

"Then why don't you DO anything?" Depth Charge already felt his patience straining, but held it in check. "Why don't you try?"

"Maybe because I don't want to fail?" she looked him in the optics, mixed emotions swirling in her eyes. "Maybe because I am so afraid of failure I freeze so I can avoid the failure _just in case_?" She started pacing then, back and forth in front of the Maximal.

"That isn't logical."

"I KNOW that! I know it's wrong! But I can't help it! I go into a self-defeat spiral before I DO anything!"

"Why?"

" I don't know! Maybe it's because, since I haven't been able to use my left hand all my life, it is simply embedded within my being to believe I can't use it? I have no idea! And the thought that I COULD learn to use it only came to me literally a few weeks ago! I never even considered the idea that I could improve my abilities. I've simply accepted my limitations and lived with them."

"You should improve your abilities. It would be beneficial."

"Yeah, but why? I've done just FINE with only one hand! I can walk, talk, breathe, do math problems, write stories, make friends… I'm practically normal! Just…"

"Just what?"

"I'm not like everyone else. There are things I cannot do that others can. Some of those things I will never be able to do."

"Condemning yourself like that will get you no where."

"Well, it's the truth. My left hand's functions are not even up to that of a two-year-old's. Even if I did strengthen it and learn how to use it, it will never be up to what it's supposed to be. I admit I hate being part of the crowd. I am perfectly willing to stand alone and apart from everyone else to do my own thing. But _this_ is unacceptable. Using both hands is something _everyone_ should be able to do. I want to be _normal_ in that way. So people wouldn't look at me funny when I do something differently. So they wouldn't have to notice and ask questions. So people wouldn't pity, look down upon me, or make me a target."

"Why do you care what they think? You're you, not theirs."

"I don't care about a lot of what people pick out and poke at me for. But _this _is different. This has always been a cloud hanging over my head. And I'm tired of it."

"Then we come to where we started. Why don't you do something about it?"

"I TOLD you! Because I can't!"

"Can't or _won't_?"

Christine fell silent then. Depth Charge had pinned her with that one. It was true… can't and won't were two different things.

"Why did this become an issue now? Why hasn't this bothered you so much before?" _And why did you have to get me into this,_ he added silently.

"Cuz it was thrown right in my face. I told you that. It was totally unexpected. My health class… I thought it was just a textbook learn-how-the-body-works class. But no. It's an actual gym class too. I haven't done any physical activity stuff for almost two years. And the whole point is to _improve_ yourself… HA! I'm so screwed up there is no way I'm getting fixed. Negative thinking was never within my capabilities. Sure, I've been pessimistic, but now I'm in this nice deep hole I've dug for myself over the last few years."

_Terrific. She sounds like me. _"And now you're going to have to pull yourself out. But if you don't care what others think, why do you let their opinions drag you down? And trying can always end up in failure. It's always a possibility."

"Because they'll know I'm _different_." Christine spat out, pacing faster, "And they can do things I cannot. Ever."

"Don't think like that."

"Well, ya know what? I do. I'm pathetic. I have to do things differently. I'm not _normal _because I can't do some things that _everybody_ else can!"

"So you're mad at them and yourself because you can't be 'normal'."

"Yes."

"Are you insulted or _intimidated_ by what they can do?"

Again Christine fell silent, pacing harder and faster. Her silence confirmed the answer.

"Why are you scared of them?"

"I'm not."

Depth Charge took a long breath, controlling his temper. He wasn't any slagging psychologist and here he was talking to a girl about her problems. "Yes. You are. At the very least you resent them, and you are conscious of their eyes upon you all the time. And it drives you crazy."

"Yeah, right!"

"I've HEARD your thoughts, girl. You are so stuck in your pit of "I can'ts"… or rather, _won'ts _that you won't try to prove yourself to them or yourself."

"I don't have to prove myself to anybody! I don't care what they think!"

"Well, you must or you wouldn't fear failure so much. And you're so used to saying "I can't" that you simply have lost the will to do anything at all!"

She stopped pacing and stood right in front of him. Around the corner of the house, the outdoor lights flicked off. Moonlight cast their shadows across the snow now.

" I NEVER give up! Never! I don't know how! I will get through this somehow; it's just this one THING! I just freeze, panic whirling in my mind, filling up with doubt and worries and fear! And I have to keep it contained! No one can hear me scream when I cry "I can't!" I know it's wrong Depth Charge, but I can't help it! I'm all alone! But I must be, for only I can fix myself! But… but…"

"But what?"

"….Maybe I don't _want_ to be fixed in this way. And stay miserable, since I'm so used to it. Even though I know it's wrong. I like my pit of despair."

"_No!_" His firm and loud statement made her jump. "You know you can't stay this way. You need to change. It would be good for you. You must and you WILL."

"Well, I can't. Ha."

_To the Pit with my temper! This girl is impossible! _"No. YOU WILL. You have that will within you! USE IT!"

"Depth Charge, you don't know what this is like! You've never seen people doing things you can't, right? I mean, _basic things _everyone should be able to do? And just sit there, having thoughts you know are wrong but no matter what you do all that happens is they get louder and stronger! My health class is going to be HELL! Because I'm scared of failure! Because I think I can't! Because _they_ can do what I cannot! _They _are normal. They don't have the battles I have. They don't sit there nearly in tears. They have _confidence_ in their physical abilities. I do not when it comes to my damn left hand! It's a curse! I hate the weight room at school. I hate the fitness room at school; with its damn weight training machines that I can't use even if I DID try. I hate having to sit there while my teacher has to figure out what to do with me, something _special_ and _different_ from everybody else! I'm weak! I'm pathetic! But I know saying that is WRONG! I want to try but can't! No matter what I do…" She trailed off and stared at the ground.

"I know what it's like," he said softly.

"No, no you DON'T!" she shrieked, kicking snow in his face, "YOU can use both HANDS! You haven't ANY idea what it's like to watch your brother playing catch with a baseball with your father knowing you could _never do it the same way!_ _I hate it! It's horrible! I've had ENOUGH! To hell with this! To hell with the whole damn WORLD!_" Christine let loose a howl of agony and anger, flailing and kicking in the snow, completely out of control. Immediately Depth Charge caught her and pulled her against him gently but firmly, holding her there until she stopped thrashing.When she realized she couldn't move anymore under his tight grip, anger became sorrow and she cried, burying her face into his side. He felt her shivering, but it wasn't from fury.Through the fabric of her gloves and jacket he could feel that she was chilled. She had been staying out in the cold winter wind to talk to him without complaint. Carefully he folded his fins around them to block the icy wind from reaching the girl and kneeled on one knee to protect her further. Slowly her shaking stopped but sobs still trembled through her body as she kept crying tears held back far too long. When her sobs quieted to silent weeping Depth Charge spoke within her mind:

_I have seen worlds fall apart and nothing could be salvaged from them afterwards. I have stood there while it happened and I was unable to do anything at all. I know what it's like to not be able to do something. Believe me, I do. What I have lost I will never see again, but I do my best to do everything I can to make sure nothing precious gets lost ever again. I fight to keep what little I have left. You can fight to regain what you once had, a gift that I will never have the privilege of receiving. What you did not have you have a chance to create. You can do this. You have the will for it. You must simply take one step at a time. That's all._

Christine sniffled and shifted so she could look into his face. His optics showed her what his face did not, that he grieved silently for all that he lost and felt her pain. But within that sorrow was the solid light of determination that always kept him going to right past wrongs. She had that light too, she just needed to find it buried under the fear and resentment. She then realized she was no longer so cold, but warmed by the heat and strength of Depth Charge's body and sheltered from the winter wind.

"Do you really think so…?"

He nodded and spoke aloud. "Yes. Definitely."

"Heh. I guess so long as someone thinks so, that's the important part."

"YOU need to think so too, kid."

"Yeah. I know…"

"All the support in the galaxy doesn't matter if you don't believe in yourself. I can't do everything for you."

"I know, Depth Charge. I know. It's… just all the panic and apprehension before and after the whole thing. When it gets down to it and it's staring me in the face, I'll do it."

"I'm glad to hear that." He released her from his grip against his side and stood up, but kept his fins folded around her. "You probably should go inside now. It's getting a little chilly even for me."

"Are you going to try and go back to the Beast Wars?"

"In theory. As for you though, no more talking in my head, you got that? Tomorrow you should just walk into your gym class without any troubles. Pay no attention to what others can do. You're not there to put on a show for them, so they aren't watching you like you _think_ they are. Don't worry about what you can't do, focus on what you _can_ do and build on it. You're stronger than you think, kid. "

Christine nodded. "Yeah, I know… I'll try not to bother you anymore by accident too. Umm… hey, take a swing at Rampage for me, okay?"

Depth Charge allowed himself a small smile, then uncurled his fins. "I'll see what I can do. Hopefully I won't see you again, so have a nice life. See ya." With a small wave he left her and disappeared into the darkness of the backyard.

Light footsteps crunched on the soft snow as they approached him from behind. They stopped and a quiet shaky voice spoke.

"…Hey, uh, Depth Charge?"

A few minutes later he stood over the spot where he had landed from the sky, and he still had no idea how he was going to get home. He broke his distant gaze on the stars and turned to face Christine, who had followed him into the yard. She jumped back at his sudden movement with wide eyes, still wary of him. Depth Charge's optics appeared to smile when he tried to look friendly, or at least non-threatening.

"Yes?"

"I… uh, want to show you something." She pointed southeast into the sky. "Do you see those three stars in a row right there?"

He looked and nodded. "Yeah."

"Below the farthest one on the right, there's that bright blue star. See it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, its name is Rigel, but I've been meaning to give it a nickname. I hadn't thought of one until now. I think I'll call it Depth Charge." She smiled nervously. "Is that okay with you?"

He blinked, then slowly smiled and gently patted her head. "Yeah kid, that's fine."

"Yay!" she squeaked, bouncing. Her hand was dwarfed by his as she took it from her head to shake it. "And thank you, sir."

"No problem. Just keep your head up and you'll be fine." He paused, then added with a wink, "Don't make me come back here again."

"I'll try not to." She let go, nodding.

That was the last thing Depth Charge saw before the snow flashed a brilliant white. The sky above him turned blue and the sun blinded him momentarily as he felt himself falling, falling, falling…. And hit the ocean with a massive _splash_. A watery world filled his vision as he slowly sank to the bottom, touching ground lightly on both feet. Startled fish darted away from him as he surveyed the area.

"Ah ha, _there_ you are!"

Rampage approached him from the side, hands upon his hips. "I thought you had run away!" He cracked his neck. "Nice shot, by the way."

"As if I'd ever run away from _you_, freak," Depth Charge snarled, "Now where were we…? Oh yes!" he ran at his mortal enemy and connected a good solid punch into the crab's face. "_For Colony Omicron!_"

END PART ONE


	2. Connection part 2

**Connection**

_Part Two_

By: Starath

Author's Note : _Yay, I finally finished this part! Took me long enough… This fic is based on real-life events too. To warn you there's just a teeny bit of harsh language in this. But for humor purposes. :P Oh, and my gym teacher does know about my issue, just not how deeply it runs. He is helping me with to deal it, but I just need help from someone else too lol… To cover the official stuff, Beast Wars and its characters belong to Mainframe Entertainment and Hasbro, I belong to myself, and the answer to life, the universe and everything is really cheese. cough Don't ask, just read…I don't own the songs "Home" by Three Days Grace or "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day either. Thank you LDC—again! I welcome comments too! _

Although much snow had melted in the past week, two sets of footprints could still be found beside the house. One pair was at least three times the size of the other, which had paced a trail right in front of them. The bigger footprints traveled back into the yard on a path that was disappearing with the melting snow, but the small impact crater still remained, something her parents would surely wonder about come springtime. She knew what… or rather, who it had come from. Somehow he'd gotten back to his rightful time and place, though. She wished it wasn't quite so sudden, but understood he probably didn't have any control in the matter. But it was okay. Now she did her best to use the words he'd given her to deal with her troubles. So far things were fine and the monsters she battled weren't as big anymore. She had Depth Charge to thank for that. Who knew a _real _Beast Warrior would be the one to help her? She still found it hard to believe; yet the proof was right there in the snow: Her footprints and his.

"Christine! We have to go!"

She sighed, hesitant to break her gaze from the backyard where she had last talked to Depth Charge. But it was Monday morning and she had to get to school. Picking up her backpack she made her way to her father's work van and got in. Her father was already waiting.

"Staring into the backyard for any particular reason?" He asked as he drove it down the driveway. Of course she hadn't told anyone about her visitor from a week ago.

"No."

About thirty minutes later Christine stepped onto her college campus, yawning loudly. She had a bad habit of going to bed past midnight on Sunday night and always ended up paying for it the next day. Since she had an hour before her first class—gym class—she spent some time in the computer lab to play on the Internet and type up assignments at the last moment. That hour never lasted long enough though, and she rushed out the door and across campus, barely having enough time to change clothes and arrive for role call. Today the class was going to be working out in the fitness room, a place with treadmills and stationary bicycles and Nautilus weight lifting machines. Christine didn't like that room very much; only two weeks ago just thinking about walking into it and seeing people using the machines she couldn't sent her mind spinning in panicked "I can't" circles. Luckily she had gotten used to it and learned not to pay attention to anything other than what she could do.

"Hey Christine, after you're done using the machines we'll go into the weight room, okay?"

However, her teacher, Steve, was making her go into a new place she absolutely hated.

Smiling pleasantly, she replied, "Yeah, sure." _If you can find me after I'm done._

"Alright, see you then." Steve wandered off to talk to other students in the hallway before going into the fitness room. Christine slowly dragged her feet to the doorway and passed by one of the doors to the gym. Poking her head in, she saw it was empty. The urge to run overtook her, and she took off onto the gym floor and ran as hard as she could in an effort to outrun all the frightened thoughts whirling through her head.

I can't lift weight like the others. And they'll see. I have to be treated specially. But I can RUN. Run, run, run. If he thinks he's gunna drag me in there, he can think again! Like a cat into a filled bathtub. I hate it in there. Don't make me go in there! But he will. And I won't be able to do anything! Absolutely pathetic. Don't make me go in there! Run you fool, run! I can do something. I can run, I can—dammit! Side-ache… but I don't want to slow down! At least three laps, come on! I've done only two so far… argh… no…

The side-ache became too painful for her to keep running, so she didn't make the third lap. Breathing hard she came to the gym door and walked down the hall to the fitness room, frustrated with herself.

_It was only two and a half laps! And you're winded, idiot! What happened to the times you could run forever and not get tired! Oh well, at least I burned some time. I'll take my time with the leg weight machines and hopefully will finish by the end class is. I do NOT want to go into the free-weight room. There is no way…_

Out of fourteen weight machines in the fitness room, Christine could use seven. The other half were for working the both arms at the same time, but since her left side was much weaker than the right; she couldn't use them even if she tried. Admitting defeat to something that everyone should be able to do weighed heavily on her mind, but she tried not to think about it and assured herself that no one was watching her every move. Her classmates were busy focusing on what they could do and chatting with their friends, not watching her. She finished her workout with fifteen minutes to spare before the end of class. Quickly scanning the room, she didn't see her teacher and took the opportunity to lean on the windowsill and gaze outside to daydream. Before she knew it Steve was beside her.

"Are you done in here? Ready to go into the weight room?"

_I should have ditched when I had the slagging chance!_ "Yeah, I'm done."

"Good!" He opened the door and motioned for her to go first. "Let's see what we can do for you."

Christine followed him down the hallway, past the doors to the gym, and into the weight room. The voices of doubt and negativity started screaming over the loud rock music that boomed from a small radio on the floor. She kept a bored and uninterested face as she noticed there were four of her classmates in the room, doing what they could. Most of her attention was fixed on the songs playing on the radio though, not what her teacher was saying. He selected a three-pound dumbbell from a huge rack of them sitting against the wall and offered it to her.

"How good is your grip strength?"

"Very little, if at all. I'll be lucky if I don't drop a weight on my foot."

"Okay. Can your left hand hold this?"

By habit she took it with her right and transferred it to her left hand, even though she could tell he expected her to take it with her left. The hand drooped, her wrist unable to hold the small weight up. _You're pathetic, you know that!_

"Yeah, it can, but not very well…"

"Okay, then what I want you to do is resist it as it tries to fall down," instructed Steve, holding her hand up with a finger. Slowly he let it drop, and Christine gritted her teeth as she tried to force it to stay up. Her hand drooped again anyway. Steve made her do it again, and she tried her best to hold the weight up. She felt the eyes of her classmates on her now, and noticed one of them in particular watching her, who was easily lifting a fifty-pound weight. _Great, just great!_ _You can't even do something so simple, and look at her! Idiot! _Finally Steve took the weight from her and thought of what to do next. She took the opportunity to sit on a small seat with a blue squishy cushion. Her teacher paced back and forth in front of her, talked to one of his students, then said to Christine,

"I'll be right back."

_Thrill. Leave me alone in here with these people, why don't you!_ She smiled at him.

"Okay."

Christine found a black speck on the light blue wall and stared at it, unable to stop panicked and angry thoughts from rushing about in her mind. Tears threatened to fall, but she kept her face straight and true emotions masked, swallowing her terror, but worst of all, her pride.

_I don't like it in here. Get me out of here NOW! I can't do anything here. It's suffocating. Let me out out OUT! I don't care what I can do here… these people around me, they don't know what I'm going through! They just know I'm SPECIAL. Screw them! I can't do what they can. Never will. I know I cannot expect to be like them right away, but I hate WAITING! Can't I do SOMETHING to be proud of NOW? Let me out out OUT! Oh great. No. I am not. Going. To. Cry. I am not a baby anymore. I WILL NOT CRY! That'd be just what I need, people asking me if I'm okay. Then I'd have to tell them all this. They don't need to know. I will deal with this myself._

Despite her need to run from the room, she stayed put on top of the blue squishy seat. Her dull gaze shifted from the black speck on the wall to the dumbbell rack, where she stared at the smallest weights. The bigger ones alongside of the other wall made her ill when she looked at them. On the wall above the dumbbell racks, mirrors reflected images of weight lifting machines used to train the upper body. She couldn't look at them either and ignored the mirrors. Thoughts of defeat and self-anger ran faster in her head, pressing to the breaking point. But she refused to show any signs of the turmoil she kept leashed within, determined to somehow defeat the negative thoughts that threatened to overtake her. She tried to remember what Depth Charge had said a week ago in her backyard, but immediately shot down any hopes they created. Then she realized the song that boomed on the radio seemed strangely appropriate and listened to it, too distracted by her thoughts and the song to see the other people in the room leave. _  
_

_No matter how hard I try_

_You're never satisfied_

_This is not a home_

_I think I'm better off alone_

_You always disappear_

_Even when you're here_

_This is not my home_

_I think I'm better off alone_

_Home, home_

_This house is not a _

_Home, home_

_This house is not a _

_Home, home_

… _I'm better off alone!_

Christine sighed, relieved her negative thoughts quieted a little as she became lost in the lyrics of "Home" by Three Days Grace. It was a fairly new song and she had taken a liking to it. She was glad her teacher hadn't come back yet and turned to stare at the speck on the wall again when a sudden reflection in the mirror beside her made her yelp and fall off the small cushion. Clambering back onto the seat, she gaped at the owner of the reflection. He was leaning on the opposite wall with arms crossed over his chest, looking annoyed, as usual.

"Depth Charge! How did you…?"

The Maximal shrugged. "Magic."

"My teacher could come back any minute, you know!" she cried, suddenly very grateful for the booming rock music. It may be giving her a headache, but it also drowned out Depth Charge's low deep voice.

"What do you care? You weren't listening to him anyway."

"That's not the point! _Anyone_ could come in here! And the doorway is right in front of you!"

"So?"

His indifference irritated her. She _really_ didn't need his attitude right now.

"What do you want?" She growled.

"You were in my head. Again. I thought we'd patched this up."

"Well, it just got ripped open. Sorry for bothering you. You can go away now."

He gave her an '_as if_ _THAT'S going to get rid of me' _look. "Don't you remember what I told you?"

"Well yeah. I don't think I could ever forget anything a ten-foot robot told me."

"Then why are you still so worked up?"

"Just to be annoying. I really like your company, that's all."

"Good. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

_Sa-lag!_ "Depth Charge, people are gunna freak out if they see you!"

"What's your point?"

"_Depth Charge!_"

"I'm not leaving. Deal with it."

"ARGH!" Christine buried her face in her hands in frustration, "You're a pain the in neck, ya know that?"

"One of my many talents. I'm good at being a pain in the ass too."

"Oh geez!" _He must have learned some swear words from me! Terrific! _"Depth Chaaaaarge!" She pleaded, trying to shoo him away with her hands, "You gotta go before people see you! Talk to me later, at home or something! Go on, git!"

"Girl, I said _I'm not leaving._" Depth Charge glared at her. "Now, about your prob—"

Christine's teacher walked in just then, and the Maximal panicked and bolted to find some sort of hiding place. Instead, he tripped over a bench and landed on his face. He scrambled upright just as the teacher saw him. Steve smiled but didn't say a word as he started to talk to his student. Bewildered, Depth Charge watched them and then saw his own reflection in the mirror. He smirked. _How convenient. _

"We've run out of time for today," said Steve, "I'll figure out something for you to work into your workout by Wednesday, okay?"

_I'd love to see you try to drag me in here again. _"Alright—"

_If he doesn't, **I **will._

Christine nearly choked, but recovered and smiled at her teacher. "Yeah, I'll see you on Wednesday for class."

He patted her on the back, "Alright," looked directly at Depth Charge, didn't say a thing, and left the room. The teenager spun around on her seat.

"Would you kindly stay out of my head?"

"Why should I? You're in mine."

"Yeah, but not on _purpose_!"

"Your point…?"

"Depth Chaaaarge!" _ARGH! __Talking to him is like talking to a rock! He doesn't listen! _She sighed angrily, pressing her temper down. Rising from the blue cushiony seat, she gave him a sidelong glance and smiled slyly. Without another word she bolted out the door and into the hall, leaving the large Maximal trapped in the small weight room.

"Hey! Where are you going?" He called over the still-booming rock music.

"Into the gym to run!" _Sucker._ Glancing over her shoulder she saw him glaring at her in the doorway he couldn't fit through. Turning on her heel she sped into the gym and laughed maniacally as she sprinted by three guys playing basketball and started one of three laps. Confident she had ditched him; she focused on running alongside the walls as fast as she could. As she turned to go past the guys playing basketball, she skidded to a stop so quickly she almost tripped over her own feet. Depth Charge was leaning on the wall underneath the basketball hoop with arms crossed, looking smug.

"How--?" She panted, staring in disbelief.

"Magic. Better get moving kid, you have two more laps to go."

"But--!" None of the guys playing basketball seemed to notice the Transformer who was almost as tall as the hoop was. She tried to regain her breath and managed to ask, "How could they _miss_ you?"

"It's their problem, not mine. Now, those laps…?"

"Yeah, right!"

"You aren't leaving until they are complete. Get moving."

"Who are _YOU_ to tell _ME_ what to do?" Christine snapped, hands on her hips. "I'm not going to run just because _you_ say so! Think again, buddy bot—Oh geez! Alright, I'm going!"

As soon as Depth Charge took a step from the wall in her direction she was off like a shot. He settled against the wall again with a dark chuckle.

"That's the spirit, kid! Keep running!"

Eventually another side-ache speared into Christine's side and she had to slow down while completing the third lap. Not necessarily by choice did she end up finishing in front of Depth Charge. Breathing hard, she walked in circles to attempt to slow her heart rate down. He watched her for a moment, then asked:

"Why do you run?"

"Because… I… CAN," she panted in reply, "I can't lift weights or use half of the weight-lifting machines. But I can _run_. And it doesn't matter that I'm not faster than anybody else."

"Why?"

"Just… because. Because I like to run to begin with."

"To out-run your troubles, perhaps?"

_Yes. That's what I try to do. _"No. Because no matter where I run or how fast, they would always be there when I slowed down."

"Mmm-Hmm." _I heard that._

_Good for you._ She glared at him, fighting back the urge to cry. She was still angry at herself for not being able to do anything other than stare at a black speck on the wall.

"You aren't going to be able to run before you can crawl, as you're attempting to do, kid."

"I _know that!_" Christine's mask of calm wavered, and she punched the concrete wall in frustration and pressed her head against it, shaking as she contained defeat mixed with sorrow and self-anger. She didn't want to talk to him anymore. He kept shoving her problems in her face and demanding she do something other than run.

_I know that! But I'm allowed to have hopes, aren't I?_

_Not if they are so high they set you up for defeat,_ Depth Charge answered in her mind, _you're going to have to start small first._

_But I don't wanna! I want something to be proud of NOW!_

He sighed, shaking his head. "You can walk, can't you? You can breathe, can you not? At least you have both hands to begin with. And you have heart. Some people go through most of their lives without one."

She pushed herself away from the wall and met his optics with a questioning gaze. He turned away, breaking the link between them. She reached out to touch his large hand.

"Depth Char— "

He snapped it away, snarling. "_Don't_—" Catching himself, he lowered his voice, facing her to wave a finger. "Don't touch the chrome, kid."

"Oh…okay. Sorry." Christine stared at the ground. "I won't."

"Hey guys!" Steve approached them from the gym door, grinning. Christine's eyes shot up in panic. _He CAN see you!_ Depth Charge calmly waved at the teacher.

"Hello."

"I saw you in the weight room earlier. Are you a new student here, or…?" Steve stood beside him as if there was nothing odd about talking to a ten-foot Transformer.

Christine couldn't believe it and gurgled in surprise when Depth Charge put an arm over her shoulder.

"No, I'm just one of Christine's friends from out of town. She told me she was having some difficulties with her gym class, so I came to help." He glanced at her. _Isn't that right?_

"Uh… uh… Yeah!" She grinned nervously, "Yeah! I know him. He's from WAY out of town."

"Oh, okay, I see!" Steve offered a hand for a handshake. "I'm glad to see that she'll have a friend around to help, uh…?"

"Name's Daniel Charger." Depth Charge took his hand and somehow didn't crush it. "And you're Christine's teacher?"

"Yep! I gotta get to my next class though, if you'll excuse me. Nice to meet you, Daniel."

"Pleasure's all mine. See you around."

"Yeah, see ya!" Steve rushed out the door and hurried down the hall.

Christine was able to stand up straight again when the weight of Depth Charge's arm left her shoulders. She backed away from him, completely baffled. In the corner of the gym, the three guys continued playing basketball. The only sounds echoing off the walls were the squeak of sneakers and the smack of the basketball as it bounced off the floor. She had thought that maybe she was the only one who could see him, but what just happened was slagging ridiculous! Depth Charge watched her watch him, amused by her confusion. Scratching her head, she paced back and forth in front of him, trying to puzzle out the mystery. The gym floor was shiny and reflected off the lights from the ceiling, so she couldn't stare at it for long and instead focused on her reflection in the floor. She suddenly stopped, fixed on a discovery. Depth Charge's reflection didn't block as much light as it should since he was so big. In fact, it was just like hers, _human shaped_…. From the reflection she could see a rather tall broad-shouldered young man with light hair and dark eyes, wearing baggy jeans and a black t-shirt.

"What--!"

Depth Charge grinned—which was kind of scary since he didn't have a mouth—and asked, "Is there a problem?"

"What… how… how… how can you look like a _human?_" She demanded, staring up at him. In the time it took her to blink, she was staring at the boy who was just a reflection a moment ago.

"I'd tell you," he smiled genuinely this time and winked at her, "but it's magic."

Two days later Christine was in gym class again, but there was no sign of Depth Charge—human, robot, or otherwise. That was fine with her; she'd already had enough weirdness in the past two weeks to last a lifetime. Plus she had been very careful to keep her thoughts positive and not near anything that might make the Maximal show up again. Today her teacher had everyone doing circuit training. They were supposed to run two laps, work out in the fitness room or free-weight room, run two more laps, and switch rooms. Supposedly she was going to work with Steve in the weight room, but after finishing in the fitness room, she was _not_ going to remind him. Instead she ran several laps in the gym to burn time, proud of getting herself out of having to go into that horrible room again. A basketball lay abandoned in the middle of the gym so she decided to make use of it after running her laps. She was a pretty good shot most of the time and tossed the ball at the hoop for awhile, listening to the music that poured out of the gym speakers. It was one of her favorite songs, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day.

_I walk a lonely road  
_

_The only one that I have ever known  
_

_Don't know where it goes  
_

_But it's home to me and I walk alone _

I walk this empty street

_On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams  
_

_Where the city sleeps  
_

_and I'm the only one and I walk alone  
_  
_I walk alone  
_

_I walk alone…_

Christine sang softly with the song, getting lost in its music. She always felt like she _did_ walk alone, but most of the time she never minded it. She had no problems with standing alone without anybody around her; save for a few select people she called friends. To her it was a test of independence and strength, which was why she hated having to ask for help or discovering she couldn't do something by herself. It bruised her pride and ego because she was proud of being able to stand alone without the help of others. The only problem was that she was also so stubborn to do things alone that it sometimes prevented her from asking for help. Her strong will often got in the way of the need for guidance and companionship. Hence the need for someone who was even _more_ stubborn than her…

The basketball bounced off the backboard of the hoop and sailed back to her, but she missed catching it and had to scamper halfway across the gym before she could grab it. A few of her classmates running their laps shook their heads as she scolded the ball for running away from her.

"You _do_ realize you sound like an idiot talking to a ball, don't you?"

Christine spun around to see a human-Depth Charge approaching her. _Aw CRAP!_

"Y-yeah, but I don't care. It needed to be scolded for running away." She tipped her chin up. "And I have every right to sound like an idiot if I want to."

Depth Charge eyed her strangely, then shrugged. "Well, I can't deny you that…"

She grinned at him. "Yep! So what're you here for, Danny?"

He cringed at the cutie-sounding nickname for the human name he'd given himself two days before. "It's Daniel when I'm human. Or DC. _Not_ 'Danny.'"

"Yeah yeah…" Christine stepped around him to get closer to the basketball hoop and took aim. "Same question. I've been a good girl. Haven't had any bad thoughts at all."

"You're supposed to be in the weight room." It was a statement, not a question.

The ball missed the hoop completely and thudded against the wall. She was careful not to meet his eyes as she went after it.

"Your point…?"

"You _know_ my point. Running away won't solve the problem."

"I'm not running. I'm playing basketball. Besides, Steve's busy with other students. I'm not going to bother him."

"If you don't, _I _will."

"You'll have to hold a gun to my head to get me to go in there again."

"Really? I just happen to h—"

"NO!" Christine momentarily forgot who she was _really_ talking to. "Forget I said that!"

"Then I'll have to pick you up and carry you in there."

"You wouldn't _dare_."

Depth Charge raised an eyebrow. "Bet?"

"I'm not worried. You wouldn't—HEY!" She screeched and dropped the basketball when he picked her up with one arm around her waist. "DC—Daniel—Oh, to hell with your fake name! _Depth Charge! Put me down! PUT ME DOWN!_"

True to his word, Depth Charge carried her into the weight room. Christine made a show of kicking and screaming at him but he didn't seem to mind. The pair made such a fuss once in the weight room that half Christine's classmates popped their heads in to watch. It was an interesting confrontation that most of the students at the college would know about before the day's end. As far as she was concerned she could die of embarrassment then and there. When things settled down and she stopped trying to escape Depth Charge they spent the rest of the class period working on how to strengthen and use her left hand.

Fridays were lecture days instead of gym periods for Christine's health class, so she didn't see Depth Charge again until Monday morning. Not that she _wanted_ to see him. She made a point of ignoring him as he came in through the gym doors with hands in his pockets, seemingly at ease with the world in an irritatingly arrogant way. She also noticed with annoyance that a few of her classmates talked to him about what happened last week. He was a practical celebrity for dealing with the "feisty girl" in their class. And he seemed so smug about it! _Dorkbot, _she thought loud in his head on purpose. When he glared at her in the middle of the conversation she spun away to chase the basketball she was playing with, having done the workout she was supposed to. That is, _without_ the weight room part. She still hated it in there and it didn't help that every time she turned around someone asked her if she was the one who had to be carried into the weight room for this or that reason. Some of the speculations made Christine blush. Gossip was horrible! Her face flushed red with embarrassment and anger as she remembered last Wednesday's events, trying to stay focused on shooting the basketball. Depth Charge's sneakers squeaked as he came up beside her and watched her throw the ball. She ignored him the best she could, although even as a human his presence was strong and demanded attention.

"So I guess you're still mad at me."

Christine bounced the ball hard and fast to drown out his words. She attempted a shot and missed. She let the ball go on the opposite side of the court and threw it from there, far away from him. Undaunted he followed her.

"You brought it on yourself, you know."

Growling, she didn't reply.

"And you only made it worse by yelling and screaming like you were…"

Christine dropped the ball and pinned it down with her foot. "Yeah, but did you have to carry me on your slagging _shoulder!_"

Depth Charge shrugged. "I do what I must to get the job done. And you're a scrawny girl. I had to do that to keep a good grip on you."

"Oh, THAT makes me feel SO much better about it! You made me look like an IDIOT! I am the freakin' laughing-stock of this SCHOOL! And you don't want to know what half the people _think _is going on between us!" She shuddered. "Eeew!"

He gave her a confused look. "What…? Should I be insulted or…?" Realization dawned on him and he also shuddered. "Uh, no. You're not my girlfriend or anything."

"Tell that to everyone here! That's what they think!"

"Well, I'm not _that_ bad of a catch and you're too young for me any—"

"HA! You're so full of yourself! Keep talking, boy, I'll slap you!"

Depth Charge didn't doubt it as he saw the anger flashing in her eyes. A mad female was someone even _he_ didn't necessarily want to deal with. Their wrath was like no other. It would be best to patch things over…. And to do so, he'd have to say a word that didn't come to him often. Christine should feel honored. Gritting his teeth, he said:

"I'm sorry, okay?"

That stopped her cold. Depth Charge, _apologize?_ "….Alright, sure. Just PROMISE never to do it again!"

"I won't."

"Good—"

"—Unless I need to."

The two of them had a glaring match then, trying to get the other to back down first. Depth Charge asked, "Shouldn't you be in the weight room again instead of out here?"

She broke the staring contest to look at the floor. "Maybe. I don't wanna today."

He growled but kept his temper leashed. If she kept being so difficult he would have to follow through with an idea he had yesterday afternoon… She wasn't taking him or the issue seriously enough. What he had in mind would certainly straighten her out. Smiling at the thought, he watched her pick up the basketball to throw it. It went neatly into the net. The ball bounced back into her hands. Instead of tossing it again, she handed it to him.

"Wanna take a shot?"

Surprised, he took the ball and bounced it a few times. "Seems easy enough…" He threw it, and the ball slammed into the backboard so hard the glass shook. They both ducked when the ball flew back at them. Christine snatched it out of the air before it could bounce.

"Uh… try again." She gave Depth Charge the ball. "Don't throw it so hard, okay? Just get it up and over and into the hoop. You're throwing a ball, not a spear."

"I wasn't throwing it hard," he snapped, bouncing it before he threw it again.

This time the ball sailed up and over the backboard and hoop, smacking the wall. Frustrated, he paced a short line until Christine returned with the ball. Seeing the anger on his face, she dropped the ball and stood in front of him.

"Hey now, it's okay. Just chill."

"I _am_ chilled!"

"No, no you're not. First of all, stop pacing. You're making me dizzy." She giggled, but sobered when he glared at her. "Listen grumpy gills, it's just a game. All you gotta do is get the ball in the hole. There's nothing to get angry about. I don't make half the shots I try and I've been doing this for years. You've done it twice. So calm down, take a breath."

"Fine," he growled, taking a slow deep breath and closing his eyes. After a moment, he opened them and the tension in his face lessened. Christine picked up the ball and put it in his hands.

"Now. Just aim for the net. Up and over. _Gently_. If you don't make it, so what? Just try again. Okay?"

"Alright…"

She stepped out from in front of him and watched him take aim. The ball hit the backboard and slipped right through the net. Christine bounced and ran around in circles.

"Yaaay! You did it! Heeheehee!"

A little overwhelmed at her jubilation, Depth Charge backed up but allowed himself a small smile. "Heh..."

Running to get the ball, she tossed it at him. "Try again!"

He did and made the shot. He grabbed the basketball away from her as it bounced back to them in a sudden burst of playfulness, something he hadn't felt in years. For a second he stared at the ball, amazed by his own out-of-character move.

"Heeey, I want a turn now…" Christine pouted.

Depth Charge grinned mischievously, deciding to run with the playful moment. "Too bad. You'll have to get it from me first."

"I want it now! BallballballballballBALL!" She dodged around him, trying to swat the ball from his hands. Easily he kept it out of her reach, finally holding it over his head.

"Heeey… that is SO not fair. You're taller than me!" she jumped, trying to reach it.

"It doesn't take much to be taller than you."

Christine stopped, narrowing her eyes at him. "Shaddup."

"Well, it doesn't."

"I STILL want the ball!" She poked him in the stomach. "Ball!"

"—Oooff!" Depth Charge doubled over and the ball fell to the ground.

"BallballballBALL!" She pounced on it before it got far and grinned at him. "Squishy fishy Depth Charge! Heeee!"

"I am not _squishy_!"

"As a human you are!"

"Give that back!"

"No! Mine!" Christine sat down and hugged the ball. Rubbing his stomach, he shook his head, eyeing her.

"You are a strange kid."

"I like to have fun. My ball."

"Fine. Have it." Depth Charge huffed and settled himself against the wall, his playfulness leaving him as quickly as it had come. Christine drooped, saddened he wouldn't play anymore.

"Ya know, there's nothing wrong with goofing around every once and awhile…"

"I don't 'goof around'."

"For a moment it looked like you were…"

"I _don't_, alright? Drop it!"

She sighed, rolling her eyes at his 'tough guy' stance. He really did seem like he was having fun for a while, but now he was back to being grumpy and serious. She couldn't understand how someone could live in the dark world of hatred and hardness like he did. The clock on the wall suddenly caught her attention. It was well past the end of class, and she had an hour before her next one. After class last week Depth Charge had simply disappeared and she wondered if he'd do the same thing today. She didn't really want him to, though, because she didn't have someone to talk to at school very often.

"Hey… I have to go change clothes now, class is done… are you going to stick around?"

"And spend more time with you than I have to?"

She glared at him, sticking out her tongue. "Nyah."

"… I suppose I can take it." He shrugged. "You're not _that _annoying…"

He had to duck when she threw the basketball at him.

A few minutes later Depth Charge followed her to the building's entrance. Christine handed him her story folder while she strapped her backpack on over her heavy winter coat. She stared out the door's window then looked to him, blinking.

"Uh oh."

"What?" he wanted to know, then realized he was holding her folder. "You can have this back now."

She took it, hugging it close to her chest.

"Well, it's kinda, like, wintertime outside. It's cold and windy and snowy. You'll get sick."

"I'll be fine."

Shaking her head, she unraveled her purple scarf from her neck. "No you won't. You'll need something at least. You've only got a short-sleeved shirt and jeans."

"I'll be _fine_," he stressed, grumping when she gave him her scarf. "I don't need this!"

"At least humor me then and carry it." She pushed open the door and went outside. Depth Charge sighed/growled, then stepped back as a blast of cold air hit him.

Grudgingly he wrapped it around his neck, pretending that he was doing it just to make her happy. He stepped out the door into the wind.

"Oh, and watch out for—"

He slipped on a patch of ice and landed flat on his back.

"…Ice." Christine stood over him and offered a hand. "You okay?"

"I'm fine!" He pushed himself up and stood, dusting off snow.

"Alright…. We're gunna have to go halfway across the campus to get to where I wanna go, so come on, I can tell you're cold already and I don't like the cold either."

"I said I'm f-f-fine!" He shivered, hating the human body he was in. If there weren't so many people around he'd be in his normal Cybertronian form in an instant. But then, getting warm sounded better than worrying about mass mayhem at the moment…. While he pondered the pros and cons of that thought, he followed Christine past other buildings and a small forested area. He was about to make up his mind that he was tired of being cold when he nearly ran into Christine.

"What did you stop f-for!" he demanded angrily.

"A kitty!" She dropped her backpack and folder, running up a small hill to the tree line.

"What?"

She came back carrying a pale little fuzzball in her arms. Dusting off the snow revealed a cold miserable blonde maine coon kitten with liquid green eyes. Depth Charge blinked; amazed that she could see something so insignificant sitting in the snow.

"Such a sad lil thing," Christine hugged the kitten close but allowed Depth Charge to see. "Isn't he cute?"

"Can I eat him?"

–**WHAP!**

"Ow!"

"No, you can't eat the kitty, you big meany! He's cold! We have to get him somewhere warm right away! An' if you try to eat him I'll beat you up!"

"I wasn't going to! …It's too puny anyway." He dodged another slap from her.

"I was joking! I don't like cats, okay?"

"I LOVE cats! How can you NOT like them?"

"They have a tendency to eat fish."

"No cat could eat you, Depth Charge. Your ego is too big."

"It is not!"

The kitten mewed and blinked slowly, looking up at the two humans. He reached out with one paw to Depth Charge, who hastily stepped back. She squeaked and stroked his little head. "He's so precious! We have to get him inside quick! Poor lil thing… Grab my stuff and come on!" She took off towards the nearest building carrying the kitten, leaving him and her belongings behind. Shaking his head in admiration of her irrepressible spirit, Depth Charge grabbed her backpack and folder and went after her.

They dropped the kitten off at the college's main office where Christine made sure the young cat was going to be taken care of properly. After they left the office desk she noticed Depth Charge was still shaking from the cold even though he tried not to show it. He insisted on giving the scarf back to her, but before they went downstairs into the lunchroom she attempted to make him put on her winter jacket despite his grumbling protests.

"I'm fine! I don't need that!" He dodged her when she tried to put the coat over his shoulders.

"Yes you do, you big whiny fishy! It won't kill you to wear this for a few minutes until you get warm!"

"I'm not whining! I just don't need your clothing! I don't know what you've been doing in it!"

"Besides WEARING it? Oh for bootin' up cold!" Christine ignored the confused looks she got from two students walking by when she said the Cybertronian curse. They giggled as they saw the large boy duck away from her before they went down the stairs.

Depth…" She caught herself, "Daniel, you don't have to put it ON cuz chances are your arms are too long for it anyway. Just let it sit over your shoulders for awhile."

By this time she had him cornered in a… corner.

"No! I'm just fine without it!" He said through chattering teeth.

"How you said that suggests otherwise. Now come on, I've got class in about twenty minutes and I want to get something to eat before then. Use the coat for a while, please? I don't want you to get sick."

"Food?" For some reason that sounded incredibly tempting and he discovered he was hungry.

"Yes, food."

"Can I get some?" He couldn't help sounding hopeful.

"Well… I don't have a lot of money, but…" She eyed the green jacket in her hands and then glanced at him. "I'll get you something if you wear this for only five minutes."

"…Alright…" Depth Charge hesitantly took the coat and put it over his shoulders and gladly found it was still warm from when Christine was wearing it. But he didn't admit that he was happy to stave off the winter cold. Picking up her backpack and purple story folder with a grin, she bounced down the stairs with him following behind.

A few minutes later Christine stared hungrily through the glass of a vending machine at the seventy-five cent candy and snacks, which was all she could afford. She turned to Depth Charge, who was leaning against the wall trying very hard not to look like he was enjoying the warmth of her coat.

"What would you like?"

"Fresh meat."

"Uh…they don't put dead rabbits in here. Anything else?"

"Sharks."

"Huh?"

"I eat sharks, not rabbits. Too small."

"Whatever. They don't have those either. I'll pick for you." She put in the money and pushed a few buttons. She handed him a small red package, reading the label. "Try these 'turkey pepperoni meat sticks'. They should be close enough." Then she got her own snack, turning her back away for a moment. When she faced him again nothing was in his hands. Depth Charge burped.

"Good stuff. Spicy."

"…You didn't eat the wrapper too, did you?"

"I wasn't supposed to?"

Christine turned pale. He laughed at her expression and pointed to a nearby garbage can.

"Nah. It's in there."

"Oh geez, don't DO that!" she ripped open a bag of Fritos chips and walked out into the main part of the lunchroom, scolding him. "You could seriously get sick from eating plastic wrappings and stuff!"

"I'll make a note of that."

A long silence drew out between them until Christine looked at her watch, munching on her Fritos chips. "Slag. I have class in ten minutes and I have to get there early if I want a seat…" She looked at her 'human' friend with a knowing grin. "Can I have my jacket back now?"

Depth Charge's blue eyes snapped wide and he quickly shrugged off her coat and handed it to her. "Yes! Uh… yeah… Here."

"Are you warm now, inside and out?"

"Well, I don't know about my inside, but…" He smiled. "Yes. I guess so."

"Good, I'm glad." Dropping her backpack to the ground she pulled on the green coat. "So I'll see you around then?"

"Perhaps… if you keep 'goofing around' in your gym class." Before Christine could reply he gave a short wave and added, "See you kid," and disappeared from in front of her. No one else noticed his sudden departure from the crowded room but she figured it probably had something to do with his "magic".

Depth Charge stood on the beach and let the ocean winds blow sea spray and sand at him, once again in his proper Transmetal Maximal form. Normally when he stood at this spot staring out at the horizon he was tense with anticipation of the next meeting with Protoform X or some other huge battle with the Predacons. But, as he watched the sun set he felt something else, something he hadn't felt in a long time. He was… content. Today he had seen acts of kindness. Some done for others, but also some done for him too. It was almost baffling, receiving acts of kindness. He had forgotten what it was like. It had been a long time since he allowed anyone to be nice to him. And for a few moments he had 'goofed around' for the first time in ages. He sat down in the sand, watching screeching seabirds play in the breeze and darkening sky. It was a welcome break from the ordinary.

END PART TWO


	3. Connection part 3

**Connection**

_Part Three_

By Starath

Author's Note:  --_patpats fic-- This is mah baby! Be nice to it! I am quite proud of it, though I've been working on it so long I'm sick of lookin' at the thing… and please! I love comments! And, once again, Beast Wars and its characters belong to Mainframe Entertainment and Hasbro. "Numb" by Linkin Park isn't mine either. Special thanks to Landray Depth Charge for helping me… again! And for those of you who don't know, my ideal robot form is a smaller purple and silver version of Terrorsaur's form. _

A loud thud echoed throughout the Maximal base, followed by a roar of frustration. In the command center, Rattrap and Cheetor dropped their playing cards, startled by the sudden noises. The thud was followed by another, and another, along with the sound of shredding metal. A low deep voice cursed colorfully from the hallway. Optimal Optimus rushed into the room.

"Rattrap! What's going on?" demanded the Maximal leader.

"If I _knew_ I'd tell ya!" he replied, peeking out from under the card table. "But whatever it is doesn't sound too happy!"

Cheetor drew his brand-new missile launcher that he'd gotten from becoming a Transmetal Two a few days ago just in case. "Big Bot, it sounds like Depth Charge…"

Everyone listened to the swearing that was nearly drowned out by the scream of metal being torn apart. Rattrap crawled out from under the table.

"Yeah, dat sounds like Cap'n Minnow alright. Wonder what's got his wires crossed so badly?"

Optimus cringed. "We're going to have to find out." He kneeled down so he could see down the hallway, but Depth Charge was around the corner out of his view, still cursing quite creatively. "Depth Charge, come out here!"

There was a clang of metal on the floor, and Optimus saw some hallway railing bent and twisted together into a gruesome form. The hallway wall shook as several huge punches pounded on it and more metal was ripped out.

"Depth Charge—"

"_Stuff it in your exhaust, Primal!_"

Rattrap exchanged glances with Cheetor. "Hoo boy…"

"What's the matter?" Optimus persisted, undaunted by the insult. The curses and shrieking metal suddenly quieted, replaced by angry footsteps coming down the hall. Optimus stood up quickly to get out of the path of the raging Maximal. Cheetor and Rattrap backed off too. Depth Charge passed them without a word, on his way out of the cavern. Optimus hesitantly followed him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing that concerns _you_, so _slag off!_ –RAH! Would you _shut up_, girl! I should have done this from the start!"

"Done what? What are you talking about?"

Depth Charge kicked open the doors of the base and stormed outside without a reply. Silverbolt and Black Arachnia watched him from above in their gun posts and gave their leader questioning looks when he appeared through the doors. Optimus threw his hands up.

"I don't know either. But hopefully he'll cool off in awhile…"

Rattrap slipped through the door to stand beside him, shaking his head as Depth Charge's form disappeared into the distance. "I think it'll take a _long_ while before he cools off, Boss Monkey. It always does with hot-heads like 'im."

"Well, however long it takes, then. Maybe we can find out what he was talking about too." Optimus sighed. "Back to your duties, Maximals. We have work to do."

"Yeah yeah…" Rattrap took one last glance at Depth Charge, then blinked. _He was just there on the horizon a moment ago…_ He shrugged. _He must be too far for me ta see now…_

Corners weren't so bad when you were used to them. They were kind of cozy in a weird sort of way. And you didn't have to watch your back; it was already covered. All you had to do was pay attention to what was in front of you. As far as she was concerned, she would just sit there in the corner for the next ten minutes until class was over. She didn't want to go into the weight room. She didn't want to try. She was convinced it was pointless. She couldn't do anything. When people saw her in the corner they left her alone and it hurt because she craved the companionship of _somebody _to talk to. But she didn't move anyway. Tears threatened to fall but she kept it all contained. Self-defeat and anger ran rampant in her mind no matter what she did. Thinking of other things didn't help. Too scared to try, too sure of failure, Christine just sat there in the corner of the gym. Nothing mattered anymore. Even if _he _showed up, she was dead-set on doing nothing. She didn't care. He wouldn't be able to help her anyway. She'd love to see him _try_. Above her, the gym speakers blasted an intro to a song that caught her attention, and she relaxed while listening to it. It was "Numb" by Linkin Park.

I'm tired of being what you want me to be 

_Feeling so faithless_

_Whilst under the surface_

_Dunno what you're expecting of me_

_Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes…_

_Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow_

_Every step that I take is another mistake to you_

_Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow…_

_I've become so numb_

_I can't feel you there_

_I've become so tired_

_So much more awake_

_By becoming this_

_All I want to do_

_Is be more like me_

_And be less like you…_

The room suddenly rumbled and an impact shook the ground. Christine stared, then gulped as the massive form of Depth Charge became visible. He had his back to her for the moment but was searching the gym for her. The corner she sat in was right next to a door, so if she was really quick she could duck out of the room—

Their gazes locked. For the first time since she met him, she became genuinely afraid. The fury in his red optics matched that of a smoldering volcano, and there was no way she was going to escape the explosion. Depth Charge marched up to her, his voice shaking in barely controlled anger.

"Get out of that corner _now!_"

She did, but kept her back to the wall and glanced nervously at the open door. He blocked it off.

"Don't even _try it! _What did I say about running away? _What did I say?"_

"I—I know what you said! But I _can't!_"

"This is right back where we've already been, girl! How can you believe in _me _enough to bring me to this world but not _believe in yourself?_"

Droplets of fear and frustration fell from her eyes as she pressed herself against the wall in an attempt to get away from his rage. "I don't know! I'm sorry, Depth Charge!"

"You're _sorry_…?" His voice dropped to a deadly low tone, "Yes. I'm sure you are. But I am NOT sorry for what I'm about to do with you, like I should have in the first place…"

"_What?" _Christine shrieked, terrified, and backed away from his reaching hand. "What are you going to do with me!"

The gym became empty and silent then, save for the music that continued playing from the speakers:

_And I know_

_I may end up failing too_

_But I know_

_You were just like me _

_With someone disappointed in you…_

Waves came and went, pulled by the lake's gentle tide. Wind stirred the leaves of trees far from the shore and blew sand and gravel in lazy circles. The sun beat down on her, standing alone in the bright blue sky. She blinked to block out the blinding light, but the heat bothered her then, quickly becoming unbearable. She couldn't lift her arm when she tried to shield her face with it. It felt incredibly heavy, along with every other part of her. It was almost as if she was being pressed into the sand because she was so heavy. A huge shadow loomed over her, completely covering the sun.

"Alright kid, time to get up and at it."

She tried pushing herself up on her elbows, but it was a large effort to do so. Moving her legs took a lot of concentration too. Her body shook with tension as she attempted to stand, but everything was too heavy. She sank back into the sand. The shadow offered a silver hand. She took it, barely able to reach up far enough to grab it. Then, as if she weighed nothing, the shadow pulled her upright, then pressed his other hand into her back to make sure she didn't fall backwards. She blinked, adjusting to the lesser amount of light, and Depth Charge came into focus. Startled, she stumbled sideways but he caught her and held her so she stood up straight again.

"Take it easy. Just stand a moment to gain your balance."

"Wh—why do I feel so heavy?" Her voice now had a metallic ring to it.

"Because you aren't quite what you were a few moments ago." Depth Charge pointed to the lake's surface. "Take a look."

Uncertain, she turned to the water but clung to his hands to keep standing. She gasped when a purple and silver face with blue optics stared back at her.

"I'm… I'm a _robot?_" Excitement mixed with alarm and she stared in disbelief. "How? Why?"

"You're in my world now kid, and you have to dress the part, just like I had to be a human in your world."

"But why?"

"Because you're going to learn a few things today. A few very important lessons. And they're going to be rough. But you brought them upon yourself."

"Lessons…? Like what?"

"First of all, how to stand on your own." Depth Charge released her and immediately she tumbled forwards with a yelp of surprise.

"Now, get up, Starath."

Breathing hard from the shock of hitting the ground so suddenly, she laid in the sand for a while. Depth Charge crossed his arms.

"I said, _get up!_"

She squirmed in the sand, attempting to do so. But she couldn't push herself upright.

"I'm too heavy!"

"_Get up anyway!_"

"I'm trying, but I can't!"

"No excuses! _Get up NOW!_"

Whimpering from the strain and stinging of the effort, she pushed herself out of the sand and shoved herself into sitting position. Depth Charge scowled when she gave him a pleading look. She would be getting no help from him. After a few moments she attempted to stand, but forcing all the dead-metal weight she now had to move hurt too much and she fell backwards. She caught herself just before she could go all the way down, landing hard on her elbows. Gritting her teeth to keep tiny cries of pain from escaping, she sat up in sitting position again. Slowly and carefully, with every bit of concentration focused on standing, Starath finally stood upright and looked Depth Charge in the optics. He nodded.

"Good."

Learning to walk again took just as much effort and concentration as standing up. She fell more than once, but rose quicker each time under Depth Charge's stern gaze. Without any words between them, Starath followed him slowly down the lakeshore and into the trees until they came to a wide grassy field surrounded by the forest on three sides and a tall cliff face on the fourth side. Broken rock and boulders lay scattered in the field. Depth Charge let her look around at the area for the moment. She fell when turning around to take in the view and she sat in the grass, observing every little thing. She frowned when she saw that some of the boulders looked like they had been blown apart with a single punch. That made her very nervous. A glare from her new mentor sent her scrambling to get up again.

"Your robot form is one that can fly, but you will have to learn how. The very basics are already programmed within you but you must learn how to use them to do what you want. And we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Starath wobbled to keep her balance, forcing herself to stay steady. Everything still felt much too heavy, but she dared not complain about it. "Uh… do I want to know what the easy and hard ways are…?"

"The easy way is that you learn how to do it right here in this field. The hard way…" Depth Charge's gaze flicked to the top of the cliff face. She saw the glance and gulped. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes sir. Quite. I don't like being thrown off cliffs."

"Good. Now, the thing about flying is that you can't force it. It will come naturally, but not if you try too hard."

_And you're telling this to someone who's been a human all her life…I can't fly…_ Starath cringed and backed away when Depth Charge growled as soon as she finished her thought. She wobbled like a toddler again and fell against a boulder with a _clank_.

"Okay okay okay, I'll try…" Pushing herself away from the rock she smiled sheepishly. "I don't suppose this is the time for me to tell you I'm scared of heights…?"

"I can give you OTHER things to be frightened of."

"Eh heh heh… no thanks…" _Alright. There's no way out of this. I'm supposed to learn how to fly. Riiight…It'll be natural, but not. Oh yeah, that helps. What the heck does that mean? Where do I even start? What exactly am I supposed to DO? I feel way too heavy to begin with— _

Depth Charge's sharp voice broke through her thoughts. "You could something else other than just _debating about it!_"

"—Eeep!" She jumped, startled. She didn't notice when it took a few more moments than usual for her feet to return to the ground.

"Would you please NOT do that?" she snapped at him.

"Would you prefer to do this the hard way?"

"Uh… no…"

"Then DO something."

"Well, I don't know what exactly TO DO. I can't try if I don't know where to begin, okay?" It was Starath's turn to growl; she hated being so short compared to Depth Charge. It was easier to talk to his stomach than his face. She resisted the urge to poke it just for the heck of it. But it was SO tempting….

"Don't even _think_ about it, kid."

"What?" She gave him an innocent look. "I wasn't going to do anything…"

"Uh huh…"

Sighing, Starath started pacing back and forth to make it look like she was doing something useful. She puzzled over what she needed to do to fly. What, is she just supposed to jump up and say "up, up and away"? …Why not? She tried that and landed flat on her face. Depth Charge shook his head as she spit out grass.

"Try again. Without the dramatics…"

It was a comforting thought when she realized that walking was getting easier in the middle of puzzling the possibilities of flight. Next she tried climbing up on a boulder, which took a long time since she kept falling off… and jumping from that. It didn't work either. But she tried four more times just to be sure it didn't work. She tried jumping from a bigger boulder. It resulted in harder and more painful splats into the ground. Once she managed to flail a little. At the last attempt something rattled around in her head as she shook dirt and grass bits free of her face. Depth Charge chuckled.

"I always knew you had a screw loose…"

She threw grass at him. "Shuddup! I'm actually TRYING here!"

"Yes, I see that. But there are less painful ways to do it…"

"Hey, who's doing this, you or me!"

He threw up his hands. "Just trying to help."

"Ooowww… rattling bits make headaches…" Leaning against the boulder, Starath decided to take a break. She regained her breath, then resumed pacing. Pacing in straight lines quickly became old, so she paced in circles instead. And that made her dizzy. Sagging against a boulder she slouched to the ground, holding her spinning head. Depth Charge joined her at the boulder and started to say something when a shriek and a rush of purple and silver cut him off.

"EEEEEKKKK Getitawaygetitawaygetitaway!"

"—the Pit!" He jumped back with weapons ready, but silence met his battle-ready stance. Quickly scanning the field he saw no apparent danger. And no Starath. She had completely disappeared.

"Primus…" Depth Charge put his weapons away. "Starath? Where did you go?"

No answer came. He scanned the field again but saw nothing out of the ordinary… unless a shaking tree was ordinary…. He crossed the field and approached the tree. In its thick leaves and branches he spotted two blue optics.

"_What _are you doing up there?" He grumbled.

"A snake!"

"What…?"

"I saw a _snake! _Evilevilevilevil! I HATE snakes! I'm not coming down til it goes away!"

"Oh for the love of Primus… Come down Starath!"

"No! Not until it goes away!"

"Starath!"

"No! And you can't make me!"

Depth Charge backed up, judging the girth and weight of the tree. "Yes, I can!"

"HA! I'd love to see you TRY! I HATE SNAKES!"

He rubbed his hands together in anticipation of what he was about to do. "You _want _me to try…?"

The blue optics widened. "You couldn't move this thing--!"

"One way or another you're coming down, kid! This is your last chance! Either come down yourself or I'll shake all the nuts from this tree, and that means you too!"

"No way! I'm not moo--- EeeeeeeKKK!"

The tree heaved and creaked as Depth Charge grasped it and with a mighty tug, he tore it right out of the ground. Swinging it so it became horizontal he shook it hard. At first Starath had fun.

"Whheeeeeee!"

He shook it harder.

"Whheee—ack! Okay, you can stop now! This is a bit much! Thank you, the loose bits in my head are rattling quite well right now, yes, thank you Depth Char—Whooooaaaa!"

She fell from the tree with a thump among leaves and twigs and tree nuts. Depth Charge put the tree back in its hole and stood over her.

"You were saying…?"

"I stand corrected…Eeeehhh..." She flopped onto her back with little spirals in her optics.

"And look, no snakes have attacked you…"

"Snakes! WHERE?"

He grabbed her by the back of her armor before she could fly up another tree.

"Hey hey HEY! Put me down! Put me DOWN!"

"Snakes are not something to be scared of. There are much worse things to fear." Despite her protests he carried her back to the boulder she had run away from. Starath panicked.

"No no no! I don't wanna meet the snake! Snakes are bad! Put me down! --Eeeeekk no no no no DON'T put me down! There it is Depth Charge! Get it! Get it!"

He saw the long green thing she was pointing at. "That?"

"Yes! That! Can't you see its beady little eyes and tongue and stuff? It's hiding behind the rock on PURPOSE just so it could scare me! It's EVIL! –What are you grinning at! This isn't funny! Stupid snake! Get it Depth Charge, show it who's boss!

Eeep!"

Depth Charge set her on top of the boulder where she clung to the rock and stared down at the vicious robot-harassing snake, cringing when he bent down to grab it.

"Now Starath, I want you to pay close attention," he said in a very professional-sounding voice as he held up his open hand. "This… is called a _vine_… Can you say 'vine'? Spell it with me. V… I… N—"

"_Oh shuddup!_" She pounced on him. He started laughing when they hit the ground. "So what if I thought it was a snake! It could be a killer vine too! You don't know that! Stop laughing!"

But he didn't, laughing so hard his body shook and she slipped off his stomach. Embarrassed and annoyed, she kicked him half-heartedly in the ribs. He didn't seem to notice. If he had a mouth she would have stuffed the vine into it to shut him up. With a huff she left him and walked away to sulk.

"Hey… heh heh… where are you going?" Depth Charge hauled himself up to follow her.

"I'm still supposed to learn how to fly, aren't I? I think I'll throw myself off that cliff."

"Now now, kid…"

"Would you STOP calling me 'kid'!"

"Well, that's what you are, aren't you? You certainly act like it most of the time…"

"I do not!"

"See…?"

"I am perfectly capable of acting adult when I want to!"

"Just not around deadly vine-snakes, right?"

"Depth Charge!"

He wrapped an arm around her and pinned her into a noogie grip. "You're always going to be younger and smaller than me, so you're going to always be a kid!"

"Ahhh! Leggo! No fair! No noogies! Aaaaahhh!" She squirmed and wiggled to get free but to no avail. To get even, she poked his stomach and found that it wasn't squishy anymore.

"Aaaww! No more squishy fishy!" For that she got a glare, but it softened into a happier face as Depth Charge laughed again.

"Yes, sorry to disappoint you."

Starath giggled. "I'll have to get you next time you're a human!"

They laughed together for awhile until he released her.

"Well, time to figure out how to fly again…"

Depth Charge blinked. "How do you think you got up into that tree…?"

She blinked back. "Uh…. Oh yeah… cool! Now I hafta see if I can do that again!"

"Should I find another vine?"

"_Depth Charge!_"

And so Starath learned how to fly not by jumping from boulders or the cliff or shouting "up, up and away!"… She learned by running after and pouncing on Depth Charge.

Next came learning how to use weapons. At first Starath couldn't hit the broad side of a stasispod, but that changed when Depth Charge taught her to fire a gun _without_ closing her optics. After that her aim became much better even though it remained unsteady through most of target practice. She was proud she hadn't shot herself in the foot at least. A thought occurred to her as Depth Charge was setting up the next round of targets to shoot at. She approached him from behind.

"Hey, uh, Depth Charge… why are you teaching me all this? Why did you bring me here to become a bot?"

She didn't see his face harden or his optics flash with a burst of dull anger. "For later."

"Yeah, but what for? What're we gunna do later?"

He didn't reply as he busied himself with settling up the last of the target-rocks, then he made his way back to the spot he'd been having Starath shoot from. She watched him go, then hurried to catch up. She started to ask her question again when he interrupted with more shooting instructions. When she had destroyed all the target-rocks they went on to moving targets… which were just thrown rocks. Starath found those much harder to destroy, and it didn't help when Depth Charge threw them so hard and fast. She noted that he seemed to keeping some dark emotions controlled, and as time went on the happy nature he had faded away, replaced by gruffness and impatience. Slowly he became distant and almost cold. She was relieved when he allowed her to take an hour's break before the next "big lesson" and took the opportunity to get away from his dark aura.

Shaking off the feeling of imminent doom, Starath explored the forest. She loved the rustling of leaves in the wind, the smell of earth, the songs of birds and watching chipmunks play in the trees. Nature was her sanctuary, and she was glad to remind herself that she was in the time before humans, before they could tear up the beautiful landscapes on the wonderful planet. If she could she'd stay in the Beast Wars world forever, but eventually she would have to leave. Plus, since Depth Charge was around, the war was drawing to a close. And eventually…. She shuddered, leaning against a tree, and prayed that Depth Charge wouldn't meet the horrible fate she'd seen… Her mind ran through the scenes even though she didn't want to see them… His final words to Rampage, the massive explosion that sent pieces of him bobbing to the surface before they sank into the ocean…. If he died, her support would be gone. She needed him to help her keep standing, just as he had done when he helped her arise from the sand a few hours ago. She wouldn't admit it before, but she _wanted_ him to show up when she'd crammed herself into a corner of the gym. But she definitely didn't expect to be brought here. Walking wasn't a problem anymore; she'd adjusted to the extra weight, and flying… well, she was still scared of heights, but it was so much fun to feel so free. A definite blessing. She would have to thank Depth Charge for the chance to fly. Sighing sadly, she turned and walked back to the field even though she didn't want to leave nature's solitude. But she also didn't want Depth Charge to be mad at her for staying away too long.

When Starath emerged from the trees, the peace she had gained from her walk shattered when she saw Depth Charge in the middle of the field. He looked every bit the cold hard warrior he really was, not the laughing friend from earlier. Fear flooded through her body and she froze, staring at him. She ducked behind a tree. A command came not from the air but from within her mind.

_Come here._

She gasped, her chest feeling suddenly tight and stricken with the chill of panic. She began to hope and pray that he was just angry with her for being away longer than the hour break. _Yeah, that's it_. It had to be. …Yet, no matter how much she hoped, she knew it wasn't that. It was something else…

_**I said, COME HERE!**_

Her head stung from the biting order and she cringed like a beaten dog. Eventually fear of the consequences if she didn't obey overrode the fear of what lay in store for her in the middle of the field. She stepped out from behind the tree and approached him with feet that had suddenly become lead weights again. Heavy dread pressed on her shoulders as panicked thoughts began to race in her mind, all of them wondering _what was to come next?_ Depth Charge's powerful presence surrounded her and bled throughout the field, filling the atmosphere with the same tension and friction that occurs just before a thunderstorm. The wind kicked up, blowing a little harder, making the warm sunny day dim with cold. The sun now fought to shine through clouds that blocked its light. When Starath finally stood in front of Depth Charge his optics held red lightning and he spoke in a voice that rumbled like thunder.

"This is your last lesson. You will fight me."

She recoiled backwards in shock. "Fight you? Are you _insane_? I can't fight you! It would be suicide!"

He continued as if she hadn't spoken. "You will also eliminate "can't" from your vocabulary."

"By _fighting_ you?" _Yes, he's gone insane! _" No. No way. There'd be no point. You'd scatter my body parts across the land. Fighting you would be nothing but suicide! It won't teach me anything, most of all getting rid of "can't" because I CAN'T fight you and stand a chance! No! I refuse!"

"I'm not giving you a choice."

His optics met hers and they locked together. She searched for some glimmer that he wasn't serious, praying he wasn't. She found nothing in the depths of the red lightning. He then started to circle her. "Weakling."

She tried to escape his paced circle but couldn't. "Yeah, I am. So what? I don't CARE if I'm weak! I know I have my limitations!"

"You have FAR too many!" He paused in his tracks and before she could move he slapped her across the face. Starath flew backwards and dug up the earth as she skidded across the ground. She laid there, stunned, human tears brimming in her optics. _He actually hit me!_ But despite her stinging cheek, she refused to cry outright. She stood up and glared at him in defiance.

"So what if I do? I will live with it like I always have!"

Depth Charge towered over her with no emotion on his face. "No. You won't. Because if you do, you will die."

"_WHAT?_"

He replied with another powerful slap across the face. She flew farther back than she did last time and slammed against a boulder. Through spinning vision Starath saw him coming and attempted to stand up, but her legs had gone wobbly with fear and pain, refusing to work.

"N-no, Depth Charge! What did I do to deserve this? _I'm sorry!_" She pressed herself against the rock as he came closer without a word and death in his optics. She commanded her legs to move as he pulled back to take another swing at her. At the very last moment she leapt away from the boulder, which shattered into dust and gravel under his hand. She landed atop another boulder a few feet away. He spun and destroyed it under her feet too, so she jumped to another one and hung onto it for dear life. But he came to that one and it disintegrated like the rocks before it. Starath barely kept ahead of him, leap-frogging from one stone to the next while pleading for him to stop. But he would not.

The pursuit became faster and more brutal as Depth Charge hunted her. Every punch he swung became quicker with less time in between, chasing her relentlessly wherever she went. Starath's cries and shrieks easily rose above the destructive clamor of rock blowing apart.

"Depth Charge, please! Stop it!"

As their numbers diminished the boulders became farther apart. She couldn't keep jumping from one to the other… they were running out. _Why I don't turn and fight?_ His fist narrowly missed her and split the rock she stood upon in half and buried itself into the ground. _THAT'S why! I can't do anything! He's much too strong! I'm NOT! I don't stand a chance! I can't fight him!_

"Depth Charge, _please!_" She leaped to another boulder, but before she reached it a bright yellow blur zipped by and the rock exploded. She landed in the rubble, tripped over burnt stone and rolled across the ground. Panting hard, she pushed herself up into a frenzied run. The boulder in front of her erupted into a shower of rock as another of Depth Charge's chest missiles destroyed it. The next one she turned to also detonated, blasting stone fragments at her. She screamed, covering her face, running a crazy path between boulders and ruined remains of the ones Depth Charge destroyed. Starath's spark pounded in her chest along with her fluid pump as she ran blindly, gasping ragged breaths. She stumbled as she stepped on some rocks lying in the grass and smacked into the tall cliff face on the edge of the field. She stared at it, dumbfounded, not really understanding what it was. Her gaze followed the rock face all the way up its height, many times her size. A wall. It was _a WALL!_ She spun around when she heard heavy footsteps crunching the rock on the ground. Red lightning still sparked in Depth Charge's optics as he approached her. Starath pressed herself against to cliff in an attempt to become one with it and hide, screwing her optics shut. _TRAPPED!_

"No…Please… I can't fight you Depth Charge! I can't! Please!"

A barely audible _click-click_ reached her audios, and blinking she saw him raising his rifle.

"Oh God no!"

He aimed with a steady gaze. "Then you will die."

"_Noooooooooo!_"

Rock exploded in a violent show when he pulled the trigger, but before the dust and debris hit him he felt a rush of wind brush by. All that was left where Starath stood was a gaping hole in the rock face. She had disappeared. He smirked, stowing his rifle away.

"She managed to do it again. Lucky girl."

Depth Charge turned and scanned the field, then the forest, intent on continuing the hunt.

In the shadows of the forest songbirds quieted as a breeze rustled leaves and a

robot girl appeared on the forest floor, curled up in a tight ball, shaking with sobs. Human tears poured out of her optics as she cried uncontrollably, huddled in the decaying leaves and soft earth. She wanted to disappear and leave this nightmare. But she couldn't. Yet… if she lay there long enough, maybe she could wake up and it would be over? She would be back home? _Home…_No, there was no going home. There was only this horrible hunt. A hunt she will never escape from until it was over and she died. She was going to die today. She couldn't fight him! No, never! Clenching herself tighter she tried to burrow into the ground to somehow escape the nightmare. She only succeeded in covering herself in dead leaves and mud, sticking to her wet face flushed with human tears. _I'm going to die today… I am going to die! I'm done! There is no more! I can't do anything… I can't fight him! Never! And he's going to kill me… HE'S GOING TO KILL ME! Everything I've ever done until now… all for naught… all for NAUGHT! Lord, I want to go home! HOME! I've had enough… enough! What is this supposed to prove? What am I supposed to gain by fighting him? WHAT? Somebody tell me, please! If I do fight him it would be suicide, if I don't he'll kill me anyway! I thought he was my friend! _

Starath's stomach and throat hurt from crying so hard, toiling over thoughts of her doom and hopelessness. But suddenly in her mind she felt some sort of intrusion. A tug, a presence that wasn't supposed to be there. Shocked, she jerked upright, searching the forest for the source of the intrusion. The quiet atmosphere was overwhelmed with the thunderstorm-like tension she had felt earlier.

_Where are you, girl…?_

It was Depth Charge! She couldn't see him, but felt him… he was doing more than just reading her thoughts, he was seeing through her eyes, _seeing_ her where she sat without _really_ being there…

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" She screeched, jumping up out of the mud and leaves. His presence left her mind. She had to move now. She had to get out of the area he had seen. Brushing off the mud and leaves she bolted through the trees, weaving in and out of them into a thicker place of the forest where the trees grew closer together. Her hope was that Depth Charge wouldn't be able to fit where she was going. She ran like a frightened rabbit, bounding over bushes and over stumps, wiping tears from her optics so she could see clearly. In the midst of her panic, a weird sort of calm settled into her. _Why should I run anymore? Why don't I just face him and get it over with since I'm going to die anyway? I can't fight him. And he will eventually catch me if I keep running. Why am I making this hard on myself? I'm done. I give up. _

The trees thinned out and the sky became more visible when she approached the tree line and burst though… ending up right back in the field. Starath skidded to a stop, nearly running into a remaining boulder. _Trees! I need trees for protection!_ She spun on her heel but was suddenly covered by a huge shadow coming from the sky. Depth Charge flew down on his anti-gravity thrusters and landed right in front of her with an impact that made the ground shake.

"Going somewhere?"

She backpedaled to get away from him, but one of his steps easily equaled three of hers. Her back hit the boulder, but instead of scrambling over it she met his optics with a determined gaze. He stopped, watching her.

"Alright, since you're going to kill me, get it over with."

His optics snapped open wide, then narrowed in fury. _She's completely given up! WHAT is WITH this girl? What more can I do besides threatening her life to get her to fight? She needs to learn how to try and not listen to her demons! Hmm… demons…_A plan quickly formed in his mind.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Kill me! I don't CARE!"

Depth Charge started to circle her. "You were right all along. You're pathetic and weak. You can't even muster up the guts to fight for your life."

Starath's jaw hung slack for a moment before she snapped it shut. _He's given up on me?_

"I wasted my time with you. You were nothing from the start. Even now I wonder if I should bother wasting my time killing you. Weak and pathetic girl." Depth Charge snarled, getting right in her face. "You can't fight. You can't become stronger. You never could! I just let you think that to make you feel better! You will never be anything! You are _nothing!_"

Tears of betrayal stained her cheeks. She sniffled, clenching her fists together in shaking balls as he straightened up and continued circling her.

"No! That's not true!"

"Oh, but isn't it? You are weak. You are pathetic. Too afraid to try, too afraid to do anything but HIDE! Go on girl, go on and hide! Crawl into another corner! That's where you BELONG! You will never be like the others. You will never learn how to use both hands. Every day people will see your arm and wonder why it hangs so limply at your side. They will SEE. You're _special_, girl. And no one will ever help you. Not me, not anyone. Ever. There's no point to wasting time on a pitiful creature such as you—"

"_Shut up!_"

Depth Charge spoke louder. "You KNOW I speak the truth! Why don't you like hearing it? You think it every DAY! And you just sit there when someone tries to help you. COWARD! You can't fight to become stronger. You can't fight ME! You haven't even the will to live. I won't kill you. That way every day you will see people doing things you can't. Can't. Can't. CAN'T! Oh, how you _love_ that word!"

"No I don't!"

"Every day you will have to live with the fact that you are a FAILURE. You never even tried. You are absolutely _nothing!_ You will never be strong. You are so broken you can never be repaired. And your mind is so sick you cannot fix yourself. Sick with fear. Sick with defeat—"

"NO I'M NOT!"

"You'll just keep running like a frightened kitten with a crippled paw. You will never be more than that! NEVER!"

Starath looked as though she might leap at him when he paused to take a breath, but she held herself back with a sudden realization.

"You can stop now, Depth Charge. I know what you're doing. If you think you're going to lure me into a brawl with you, think again."

He sneered at her. "No, of course not. You're too weak and too scared to fight!" He stood over her. "You're too small anyway. I could step on you and end the fight in a nano."

"I'm strong enough in my own way. That's all I need. I don't need to prove myself to you."

Despite the calm tone in her voice, Depth Charge saw white-hot anger boiling in her blue optics. Good, he had gotten to her temper. He just needed to chip into her resolve a little further…

"Weakling," he growled, pacing a tighter circle around her, "I can see the anger within you… why don't you release it...?"

Starath drew a sharp breath. She thought she had been keeping her fury hidden from him. She didn't want to fight in anger. That was a beast she didn't know how to control and was scared of what it might make her do. But it was _power_. Raw, untapped power that she had been keeping leashed for years…. When it did reveal itself—even in small bits—she always ended up hurting her friends or herself. The last thing she wanted to do was lash out and hurt Depth Charge. Taking a slow breath to calm her racing spark and fluid pump, she pressed the anger back into its small cage at the corner of her mind. But now she was caught between Depth Charge speaking her demons aloud and the dragon of anger trapped in her head, which was infuriated by his taunts. Her very sanity was now threatened.

"I am strong enough. I can do what I have to and expect nothing more. I don't want to fight you. I have no reason to."

"Oh?" Depth Charge shoved her backwards. "What about now?" He shoved her again. "And now?" He socked her across the jaw. "There yet?"

Starath staggered under his hammering blow but recovered, glowering at him. She wiped at mech fluid that tricked from her lip. "No! I will not fight you!"

"Because you can't, you weakling. A weak. Little. Girl. Nothing more."

Her inner dragon roared, pulling on its chain. "I could fight you if I wanted to!"

"No, you can't."

"_Yes I can!_"

Depth Charge leaned down into her face again. "You can't."

"ARGH!" She backed away from him, clinging to the last bits of her resolve and sanity as the desire to do everything to prove him wrong set in. She turned away to stare at the grass, panting hard. "I will not… I _will_ _not_…" Her body shook terribly with restraint as her inner dragon fought and begged to be released. She wanted to shut him up. She wanted to become stronger. Releasing her anger would do that. She could fight him, and she could win. But still she hung onto her humanity. She had no reason to fight. She had nothing to prove… Depth Charge whispered in her audios.

"_You… CAN'T."_

With a ghastly howl she spun around, swinging her fist as hard as she could into his face.

"_Yes I CAN! I HATE that word! I'll never use it again!_"

Depth Charge's optics flashed with something like pride before they smoldered with red lightning again. Bending, he smashed his hand across Starath's face, sending her flying.

"Pathetic!"

Skidding across the ground, she dug her heels in to stop and fell forwards onto her hands. Tears of fury mixed with dripping mech fluid and dropped to the grass, staining it silver. Her human side slowly gave in to the dragon of anger and she gladly let it slip away to gain power leashed too long. She could do _anything_. She had strength. And she wasn't going to be pushed around anymore…

"Finished already, girl?" Depth Charge's shadow fell over her. "I suppose I should step on you now and end this…" He raised his foot and slammed it down, but at the very last moment Starath rolled over and grabbed it, twisting it sideways with a sickening _snap_. Depth Charge shouted in surprise and pain and he toppled over onto his back. Starath arose and stood over him with an insane smile.

"Who's the pathetic one now, fishbot?"

He leaped up; refusing to make any sounds to reveal how much pain he was in. Snarling, he growled, "You are. You are nothing."

Fury contorted her face. "NO! NO I'M NOT!"

"Then _prove it!_"

Running at him she suddenly disappeared in a blur of newly controlled speed. Harsh punches rained down from all sides until Depth Charge wrapped himself up in his fins and held firm for a moment, then swung them open the next. Starath screamed as she was slapped away, but regained her flight and disappeared again. He stood ready for her attack but none came. He heard a faint giggle to his right and swung his fist but connected with nothing. Suddenly she was in front of him and landed a punch into his chin. He staggered back a step, putting his weight on his broken ankle. A string of colorful curses burst forth until he became balanced again to favor his good foot. He waited for another attack and pinpointed the source of another insane giggle. Spinning quickly he swatted her from the air. She hit the ground and lay stunned.

"Come on girl, is this _all_ you can do? I am NOT impressed!"

But in fact, he was. _She's much faster than I thought she would be… Ow, slaggin' ankle! I shouldn't have given her the chance to do that…now I just have to teach her to control that anger… _He smirked, realizing the irony. _One hot-head teaching another…Whoa!_

In a blink Starath was off the ground and flying at him with a green beam-saber in her hand. Depth Charge had been wondering how long it would take her to find that weapon and drew his spear just in time to block her thrust. She hit with surprising force, making him slide backwards in the dirt. He kept his expression neutral as he saw the insane fury raging in her optics. The kind girl from before had vanished, replaced by a violent demon. If he wasn't careful he would get hurt from that fierce anger. He had to get her back in control of herself again. She drew back and struck again, shoving him further back. Depth Charge winced as his broken ankle sparked. She saw the flash of pain and retreated to hit him a third time. He swung back, connecting with her sword hard enough to send her spinning backwards in the air. Starath yowled, shooting forwards, slashing wildly. Her strikes were hard and powerful but they were unfocused. He counter-attacked with well-timed blows, forcing her closer and closer to the ground. Eventually he was able to sweep his spear under her and she fell to the earth. Before she could get up Depth Charge pinned her down, holding his spear diagonally across her body. She growled and snarled, thrashing under his weight to get free.

"Starath, Starath! Listen to me. You must calm down and get a hold of yourself!"

She managed to kick him square in the chest. "Burn in the Pit, fishbot! I'm going to tear you apart! _You will die today!_"

"You've proven your point! There is no need to fight anymore! You know how strong you are! You've gotten rid of "can't"!"

"NO! I must fight! You called me weak! You called me pathetic!" She spat in his face and kicked him a second time. "You wanted me to get mad. You wanted me to release the beast within me. Now you're going to have to deal with it!"

"Blind anger will get you nowhere. You need to harness that power but not fight with it, or it will only lead to mistakes. Believe me, I know!" He caught her foot before she could kick him again and lowered his voice to a gentle tone.

"…Just calm down, kid."

At the sound of his nickname for her, Starath stopped squirming and gazed into his optics. The red lightning was gone, replaced by a kind fatherly light. Anger slipped away as it was leashed again and sad relief took over her. The grip on her sword loosened as she allowed Depth Charge to take it away. Human tears welled up in her optics.

"I… I didn't want to hurt you, honest… you just made me mad…"

He stood up, put away his spear and offered his hand. She took it and hugged his arm, clinging to it as she cried. He patted her back.

"It's okay, kid. I asked for it. But it was for your own good."

She sniffled, wiping her nose on his arm. "Yeah, I can see that now. Thank y—"

The scream of a missile cut her off as it came from the left and struck Depth Charge in the side. He and Starath flew in opposite directions. She landed on her stomach and dug up grass until she stopped skidding. A low haunting laugh filled her audios. Pulling herself up, she saw Rampage emerging from the forest. He paused beside Depth Charge, who was unconscious and kicked him hard in the ribs.

"So THIS is why you've been distracted all these weeks! Why didn't you tell me? I want to play too!" When he got no reply he laughed. "Oh ho ho! So it's MY turn now? How kind of you, old friend!"

Starath scooted back as the monstrous crab approached her. Her body stung from the impact of the missile even though she hadn't been the one who took the hit.

"Depth Charge…?" She whimpered. He didn't move. Rampage moved in front of her to block her view.

"Don't bother with him right now little one. He's… napping."

"No! You shot him!"

He shrugged, indifferent. "Bad habit of mine. I must say you fight very well… What delicious burning anger you have! But I wonder how loud you can scream…?"

"Stay away from me!" She scrambled upright and backed away as the Predacon advanced on her. If only she still had that sword she'd try to take him down! But she didn't. "_Depth Charge!_ Get up!"

"It's been a long time since I've had a girl to play with… They're so rare…. And their fear is always so refreshing…"

Starath remembered her gun that she had learned to use a few hours ago. She wretched it out and aimed at the crab's chest with shaking hands. Since speaking aloud wasn't working, she tried calling to her friend in his mind.

_DEPTH CHARGE! GET UP! I NEED YOU!_

Meanwhile, Rampage laughed at her puny gun.

"You're going to need a little bit more than that to do me any harm, sorry to disappoint you… But you're welcome to try…"

Her will to stand against him wavered and he reveled in a wave of her fear as it hit him.

"Ah yes… that's it… let the fear build within you… there is no escape from ME!"

Starath's back ran into something hard. She turned to see that she had backed up against the tall cliff face.

"No…" She moaned, dropping her gun. She was trapped again, but this time a monster had caught her. And she could only imagine the terrible things he would do… Rampage chuckled, breaking her thoughts.

"Oh dear, no where else to go, little one! What will you do n—"

He roared angrily as a heavy force slammed him sideways and rolled the two of them across the field. Depth Charge exchanged blows with the giant crab until they stopped rolling and the raybot ended up pressed to the ground, barely holding back his enemy's strong arms as they threatened to crush his throat and rip off his limbs.

"BAH! Again you interfere with my fun, fish bait! Nevermore!"

"You will _leave her ALONE!_" Depth Charge panted, managing to shove the crab off him. He spun to pin him down, glancing up at the small femmebot who watched them with tears in her optics.

"Starath! Get away from here!"

"No! I don't want you to fight him alone!"

"This is the LAST time and place to be stubborn! —ARGH— I _always_ fight him alone! Leave here quickly!"

"Depth Charge! No! I want to help!"

He growled, both in frustration and from the huge effort to keep Rampage down.

_Sorry kid._

Before she could make a sound, the world shifted and spun. When she opened her eyes she found herself several feet off of a cream colored floor. She fell hard on her hands and knees. Silence met her ears. Numb with pain from the short fall Christine sat up and looked around. She was back in the school's gym. Quickly examining her hands, she saw reddening flesh instead of silver metal. Human again. The clock before her on the wall showed no time had passed since she left for the Beast Wars world well over six hours ago.

"Depth Charge…?" Her voice echoed through the empty room. No answer came. She called out in her mind.

_Depth Charge!_

But she could tell their minds had been disconnected.

END PART THREE


	4. Connection part 4

**Connection**

_Part Four_

By Starath

Author's Note: _Woo! Numbah 4's all done! Whee! This one is considerably less intense than part 3, to cool down a bit before things get all wound up again. Once again, Beast Wars and its characters belong to Mainframe Entertainment and Hasbro, I own myself, and Landray Depth Charge owns herself too unless she has some joint-ownership I don't know about. Thanks fer helping me again! --glomp--_

Nobody asked her why she walked with a limp. Nobody asked her where the huge mark on her jaw came from. Nobody asked her why she looked like she had been through a tornado. But she could tell they wanted to. Rather than throwing up the hood on her purple sweatshirt to hide the punch-mark on her face she walked through the halls of her school with head up, wearing the injury like a medal. Yes, she hurt like hell after what she had gone through. But she didn't complain about the bruises no one could see under her clothes. She was stronger now because of them. They were from the fight to get rid of "I can't" and finding her confidence. She had it now. Everybody left her alone but watched her with questioning eyes. Christine didn't care; she was busy trying to process all that had happened that morning. And her head felt so empty now…

The strong presence that had been within her mind for nearly a month was gone. She was alone with her own thoughts like she was supposed to be. Depth Charge wasn't watching over her shoulder anymore. His presence had gotten annoying after awhile but she had grown used to it and now… missed it. Alone again. Why had they been disconnected? It wasn't fair! While in the Beast Wars world as a robot she could have helped him fight Rampage! Even if he DID always fight him alone…. Depth Charge shouldn't have to carry that burden by himself. It wasn't right. Christine pushed away her lunch bag and sandwich to lean forward and bury her face in her arms. Sure, she was alone, but not _that_ alone. Still, she wished she could be that strong. Yet soon… soon… Depth Charge would not only walk alone, and stand on his own, but also die alone in his last battle with Rampage. _No! You can't die!_ She huddled closer to the table and against the wall, biting back tears. What if the fight he was in right now was his last one? Even though it was two hours after she returned to this world, she had no doubt that Depth Charge still fought Rampage back in the Beast Wars. _Will I ever see him again? _Christine always worried about her friends and Depth Charge gave her plenty reasons to worry about him. But she also realized that the path he traveled was by choice. He gave himself the burden of killing Rampage for past injustices. Rampage's deeds had changed him forever. There was no other option left for him. _But why does it have to be so grim? _

She sniffled and attempted to bury deeper into her arms, pressing against the table. Her watch filled her vision and she blinked, bringing it into focus. It was almost one o'clock. Time for history class. For once she wouldn't mind taking notes for two hours because it would take her mind off of other things. _Like the fact I was a robot this morning and had the stuffing beat out of me,_ Christine winced as her jaw throbbed in reminder of Depth Charge's heavy punch. _If I see him again I'll have to kick him in the shin or something…_

Before going to class she attempted to make herself halfway presentable but by the way her teacher looked at her with a start she could tell she hadn't done enough. At least she had washed off the mud and pulled the last leaf out of her hair. She groaned when she thought of how her parents were going to react when they saw her so roughed up. _Yeah mom, I'll be fine, honest, I just got into a fight with this really big fish-bot this morning…I've been talking to him for almost a month now, and guess what? He's from my favorite cartoon show! _She'd better think of something more believable… She snorted and nearly laughed out loud. The irony was that any lie would be more normal than what REALLY happened! _Sheesh…_ Shaking her head Christine scribbled down notes about Woodrow Wilson's involvement in World War I from her teacher's lecture.

Class was let out a little earlier than usual and by habit she went straight to the school's computer lab. She often considered pitching a tent in the lab since she was around so much; it would be easier simply to live there. Christine plopped her backpack against the wall next to one of the computers she preferred to use, set way back in the corner of the room. Although she didn't feel like talking to anyone she logged on to her instant messenger anyway. Almost immediately a message from her friend Landray Depth Charge popped up.

Landray Depth Charge: **Hi!**

_Oh, THERE'S some irony for you. _She was slow to reply and not in her usual bouncy way.

Starath: Hullo...

Landray Depth Charge: **...uh oh. Everythin' okay?**

_Oops. She can tell already…_

Starath: I suppose you can say that... just... extremely drained...

Landray Depth Charge: **Any particular reason why..? I mean, that you want to talk about…**

Starath: Heh... well... you wouldn't believe me if I told you...

Landray Depth Charge: **Try me. **

Starath: ... No, you wouldn't believe me. Really, you wouldn't. You'd write me off to the funny farm... blinks Perhaps I belong there anyway...

Landray Depth Charge: **Considering the people I surround myself with, nothing surprises me anymore. It can't be THAT odd.**

Starath: Wanna bet?

Landray Depth Charge: **$2 on Starath to win, yes.**

Starath: Heh... 'Starath' will have a new meaning for me... long sigh

Landray Depth Charge:** C'mon...what's wrong? Need a hug?**

Starath: That'd be nice but you'd better not... I'm covered in bruises and my jaw has a big mark on it...

She didn't reply for a moment.

Landray Depth Charge: **What happened?**

Starath: I can hardly believe it myself. Ah sure what the heck... A few hours ago I WAS Starath. Fighting Depth Charge. He's got a hellava swing on him...

Landray Depth Charge:

Landray Depth Charge: **Ah, fic writing a bit, hm?**

Christine sighed. No, it was much more real than that.

Starath: Uh, no. I WAS fighting Depth Charge. Until Rampage showed up and shot us both... He's a LOT bigger in person, I tell ya...

Landray Depth Charge:** ..uh...I must be confusing myself over here…**

_Can't say that I blame you. _She sighed again and geared herself up for the explanation that would probably confuse her friend further.

Landray Depth Charge: **Am I reading this wrong, or is there a double meaning, somewhere? **

Starath: --sigh-- I told ya you wouldn't believe me...For several weeks now I've been REALLY talking to Depth Charge. Seriously. Remember that kid named Daniel I told you about?

Landray Depth Charge:** Yeah, what about him?**

Starath: He's Depth Charge in human form. I swear he is.

Landray Depth Charge:** ...That much of a likeness, huh?**

She growled and quickly pounded out: No no... he IS Depth Charge!

Landray Depth Charge:** You know, I met someone like that once. Was the SPITTING image of Rattrap… What do you mean 'is'?**

Starath: He IS Depth Charge. Somehow he shrunk himself down and crammed himself into a human body. He just says it's 'magic'... rolls eyes But it's also a pain in the butt cuz he can go anywhere with me AS a human and blend right in!

Landray Depth Charge:

Landray Depth Charge: **Am I missin' the interface here?**

Starath: It's true! My teacher met him!

Landray Depth Charge:** ...so wait, what you're telling me is that you think a cartoon character is real, first off, and is now somehow a human?**

Starath: Don't ask me how! It's magic!

When she didn't reply for a minute she explained: Look-- this morning I went to the Beast Wars world. I WAS Starath. I learned how to fly and how to shoot a gun. Then I had to fight Depth Charge to learn how to be strong on my own and get rid of "can't"! It was hell!

Landray Depth Charge:

Starath: Then Depth Charge and Rampage got into a fight and I was sent back here with NO time missing from when I went! I swear, it's true!

Starath: And for some reason the connection between Depth Charge and me is disconnected. He isn't in my head anymore...

The empty hollow feeling echoed in her mind. She was more alone than she had ever felt.

Landray Depth Charge: **..Okay wait a second.**

Landray Depth Charge:** Let me try and piece this together. First, you are telling me that the Beast Wars world is real?**

Starath: Yes!

Landray Depth Charge:** ..All right, next, you're saying that you went to their world and BECAME **

**Starath? **

Starath: Yes! I was so heavy being made of metal! But now, afterwards, I'm literally stronger because of it! --wonders if Depth Charge planned it that way--

_He probably did, the sneaky fish…_

Landray Depth Charge: **...Is reeling over here... **

Landray Depth Charge: **Did someone hit you in the head with a shovel this mornin', luv?**

She laughed at that before replying: . No, although DC's sucker-punch was certainly close enough... I'd show you my injuries if I could! People have been staring at me all day…

Landray Depth Charge: --**Shakes head--**

_In disbelief, no doubt… Well, here I go…_ Christine told her all that had happened that morning in full detail. There was a long pause on the other end of the conversation.

Landray Depth Charge: **Are you serious?**

Starath: It's the truth. Honestly. I would never lie to you.

Landray Depth Charge: **Honest truth? No drugs? Drink? Head injury or hallucinations?**

Starath: It's honestly true. I have a good imagination, but I couldn't dream up something so awful... And now Depth Charge is fighting Rampage and my head feels so empty! I'm so worried!

Landray Depth Charge: **Well...**

Landray Depth Charge: **DC's a tough fish, he can take care of himself... --Is still reeling-- **

_Yes! She believes me! I hope…_

Starath: I know but still! I broke his foot! He's injured!

Landray Depth Charge: **Hmm…**

Starath: I wanna go and help him but he's the only one who can pass between realities somehow.

Landray Depth Charge: **So all that stuff on TV is real...**

Landray Depth Charge: **DC's real...so swears Starath herself. **

Landray Depth Charge: **Good God, this is nuts!**

Landray Depth Charge: **That means Cybertron is real!**

Christine smiled thinly when a thought came to her.

Starath: If I see him again I'll have him come and visit you to prove it.

Landray Depth Charge:** Screams at the sky Take me hooooooooooooooooooooome!**

Her reply to the suggestion was immediate: **Do that!**

Landray Depth Charge: **Wow… so he really pimp-smacked you like that?**

Her cheek stung as if on cue. She frowned as she read an email from her father.

Starath: --winces-- Yeah... it hurt... Gah... Landray... I hafta go, my dad is here to take me

home...

Landray Depth Charge: **...gah, we-- okay! Just let me know if he comes out of everything okay! This still sounds nuts.**

Starath: I will... And then I'll beat him up for making me worry! sighs Even though you probably still don't believe me... thanks for listening. I've been containing this ALL day...

Landray Depth Charge: **I'm always here to listen. You know that. Tentative hug**

Starath: hugs back Luckily I'm not THAT bruised... See you later!

Landray Depth Charge: **Bye!**

"Christine! What happened?"

She groaned and dropped her backpack on the floor and shuffled to the wall to take off her boots, hiding her face from her mother. She hadn't even been in the house for ten seconds and the fuss-fest started. First she got it from her father on the way home, now her mother. On the couch her younger brother watched with curiosity too. Christine's mother grabbed her daughter's arm to pull her into the light so she could see her face. Christine yelped as a bruise was squeezed.

"OW! Mooooooom!"

"I didn't do anything but pull your arm. Let me see your face!"

Grudgingly she let her see it. "It's nothing. We were playing Ultimate Frisbee in gym today and I ran straight into the wall to catch the Frisbee. I'll be fine." Strangely enough, that _was _a partial truth. She DID hit a wall today. Or rather, the wall hit her. But she wasn't going to clarify that part.

"It looks like you've been punched!"

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too." Her father stood to one side to watch them. "But _nobody's_ fist is THAT big."

_Unless it belongs to a ten-foot Transformer._ Christine squirmed under her mother's intensive study. "I have homework to do. Can I go to my room now?"

She let go after looking her daughter over one more time. "…Alright. You should put some ice on that though, it looks painful."

"I'll be okay. Really. I just won't run into anymore walls." Picking up her backpack Christine hurried to her room and tried to hide her limp as well.

"Are you _limping too?_" Her mother demanded.

"Uh… no! My backpack is heavy today and I'm leaning on one side, that's all!"

Quickly shutting her bedroom door, she breathed a sigh of relief and tossed her backpack in the corner. While changing clothes she winced as she saw all the bruises and marks she'd gotten from the morning's adventure, thankful it was wintertime and pulled on another purple sweatshirt and jeans. Flopping onto her bed Christine stared at the ceiling, silence ringing in her ears. Talking to Landray had helped but her thoughts were still a mess of disbelief and confusion. She had _really_ been a robot today. She learned how to fly and saw the world from a bird's-eye view. She ran for her life and then turned to fight to prove she was worth something. She threw away her fear and doubt to become confident. The voices that said "I can't" were gone now. It was a long tough battle to banish them but it was worth it. Tempted to believe she had dreamed the whole thing, all Christine had to do was stand up to look in her mirror for proof. A large yellow and purple bruise was smeared on the right side of her jaw. She couldn't blame her mother for making a fuss over her. Grabbing a brush from her desk she went through her hair, wrinkling her nose when she found a leaf again. She wanted to think up something to do to Depth Charge for getting even after what he had done to her. But she couldn't and sighed. It had been for her own good since she didn't listen to his words. Action had to get it through her head. Glancing at her clock she saw it was almost 4:30. _Is he still fighting Rampage? Is he alright? I wish I knew! _Squeezing her eyes shut she brought an image of the lakeshore to her mind and tried to see him. Surprisingly, she did. But it wasn't her imagination. It was like she was watching a movie. She could hear wind blowing and the rustle of sand and trees. Depth Charge leaned on a big tree growing alone near the shore, and the area looked like it had seen a small war.

_Slagging murderous crab! Next time he won't get away so easily, and not until I'm FINISHED with him! _

Christine dropped her brush and didn't notice when it landed on her foot. Their connection was back!

_Depth Charge! Can you hear me?_

Apparently he didn't because he cursed something she'd never heard before and wouldn't repeat to her worst enemy.

_GAH! I should have been paying attention in case X showed up! If he had done anything to her… No… Don't think of that. He's already taken away… _

He slumped, pulling his knees closer to his body. Christine felt a blast of his sorrow and staggered back. It was the deepest bluest sort, the kind that makes the heart cry out. Then it suddenly shifted to a red-hot anger and Depth Charge snarled both out loud and in his mind.

_Never AGAIN! That monster will PAY for what he did to them! ALL of them!_ _I haven't forgotten, X! I will hunt you across the universe if I must!_

The ferocity of his fury hurt her head. Biting and burning, it stung and her eyes filled with tears. No one should ever have to be that angry. For any reason. Her heart bled pain for him and she grieved for his anger and his sorrow.

_Oh Depth Charge, you wounded soul…_

_…Kid?_

In a flash of white light Christine found herself standing on the lakeshore right in front of him. She blinked, wiping tears away, then started crying all over again when she saw how beat up he was, covered in dents, gashes, sand and his own mech fluid. He cradled one arm against his side and circuitry spewed from his shoulder joint where it had been partially ripped out. One of his fins flapped loosely off his back but he kept it pressed against the tree so it wouldn't fall off. His left foot flopped to one side, nearly separated from his ankle. Rampage must have capitalized on that injury she caused. The thought of that made her cry harder and she ran to his out-stretched hand to hug his arm. Depth Charge pulled her gently to his side and rubbed her back.

"It's not as bad as it looks… Don't cry…"

"You l-look like you've been through a slagging garbage disposal!"

He chuckled. "X fights rough. But so do I."

"You didn't have to fight him alone though! I could have helped! Somehow I would have! Then you wouldn't be so hurt! You shouldn't have to do that all alone!"

"Nonsense. You would have gotten in our way and been injured, or worse… And I choose to fight alone. It's my duty."

"N-no! You shouldn't have to carry such a burden by yourself! It's not fair! You shouldn't have to be so angry! You shouldn't have to hurt so bad! I'd take all that pain away if I could! Then you could be happy again!"

"No. It's for only me to carry. I don't remember what it's like to be happy. I doubt I ever will. Hunting X to bring him to justice is my life now. I have to be angry to do that. But tell you what," he rubbed a few tears from her face. "Stop crying and be happy for me, okay?"

Christine sniffled and nodded slowly. "Okay…"

The two of them sat together in silence watching the tide of the lake and clouds dance across the sky. While nestled so close to him she realized he smelled like metal and salt water mixed together in a way that reminded her of those bath salts her mom sometimes bought. It was relaxing to sit next to him even though he was a person of great turmoil raging within. Sadly she ran her hand over a dent in his armor as if attempting to make it vanish along with his pain. Depth Charge kept himself from flinching away and didn't make a sound, looking down at her.

"You know, that one's from you."

"It is?"

"All the little ones are. Especially the one right here." He patted at his chin where she had nailed him. "You got a good swing on you, kid."

She gave him a small smile. "Yeah well, that was for getting me right here." She proudly showed him the bruise on her right jaw. "People were looking at me funny for it all day."

"You didn't try to hide it?"

"Nuh uh. Why should I? It's my graduation medal for getting through your school of hard knocks."

He laughed at that and immediately regretted it when his injuries screamed at him in unison.

"That you did. Next time I won't go so easy on you."

"….That was going _easy_?"

He gave her a wink. "Maybe."

She poked him in the side where she hoped it didn't hurt. "Hey, why did our connection cut off when you flashed me back into my world? I was so worried!"

"I'm not sure why. I think it was probably because I had all my attention focused on X and I wanted no distractions. But I didn't cut it off purposely. I'm still trying to figure out how the connection works anyway, how I can hear you all the time but so far you've only heard me today, and so on."

"Oh… Are you going to be alright, Depth Charge?"

"I always turn out all right, kid. No worries."

"Shouldn't you go to the Maximal base to get repaired?"

"And deal with those bozos right away? Heck no. Not yet."

Christine let out a musical laugh. "Good point."

Depth Charge didn't reply and she glanced up to see his optics deepen to a darker red as he bowed his head.

"What's wrong?"

The answer came cold and sharp. "Nothing."

"C'mon, what is it? You can tell me."

"No."

"Depth Charge," she took his hand in hers and uncurled it from a tight fist. "You can tell me. I won't judge you. I can try to help."

His grip tightened a little as he drew in a slow ragged breath. "It's just that you reminded me of a little girl I knew when you laughed."

"Oh… did she mean a lot to you?"

"Yes. She was my daughter."

Christine had nothing to say to that. He continued softly.

"She was taken away from me when X leveled Colony Omicron, as was her mother. I found them afterwards…" His voice broke.

"Oh Depth Charge…"

He wretched his hand away from her and pounded it into the sand with fury burning in his optics. "I'll never forgive him for that. _Never_."

She tugged on his hand to get it out of the sand and he moved it, allowing her to hug it closely.

"That's why I hunt X. He destroyed my family and so many more like it. He has no regard or value to life. It's all a game to him. To cause pain. To kill. To murder innocents. I didn't become a player in his sick game on purpose; he brought me into it by…." He trailed off, memories flashing through his mind and his throat tightened as he concealed drowning sorrow beneath a hard exterior. Christine watched him, looking for any signs of what he was thinking. He couldn't hide the pain in his optics and she saw it, graciously deciding not to pry. Depth Charge would tell her when he was ready. After a moment he continued in a low growl of steely conviction, "Now I play the game to end it. And someday I will, even if it costs me my life."

Tears filled her eyes as she remembered the last battle he would have with Rampage. She didn't see him nod as he saw her thoughts and the scenes.

"But a life doesn't equal a life! There is no law of equivalent exchange! Killing him won't bring them back!"

"No. But it will prevent him from killing anyone else."

"You don't need to carry all the anger and hate! You don't need to continue

down this path! It may eventually destroy you!"

"I've been hunting X most of my life now, long before you came into existence. I can't just let it go. I won't until he is brought to justice."

"At the possible cost of your life!"

"Whatever it takes."

"N-no! Depth Charge!" She clung to his hand tightly and shook with sobs.

"I'm too set in my ways. I've done this for too long. I'm not going to change."

"Well… if I did, why not you?"

His optics widened and he shook his head. "I can't."

"_What_?" Christine let go of his hand and backed off to shake a finger at him. "Now you see here! That's MY word, not yours! You are capable of anything! Letting go of the past is one of them!"

"I'm not as perfect as you think I am—"

"Nobody is! I don't expect you to be! But if you'd stop looking behind you your life wouldn't be so burdened! If you DON'T stop the anger will consume you and you'll end up just like Rampage! What happens if you caught him and destroyed him? Would that be enough to silence your ghosts of the past? Would your desire for revenge be satisfied? Would you be able to find any meaning to you life afterwards?"

"I'm not becoming that monster!" He yelled back. "I'm better than that!"

"Are you? The pathway of revenge never ends, Depth Charge!"

"It's justice, not revenge!"

"Not if it becomes every fiber in your body! Not if it's the ONLY thing that keeps you breathing!"

"It's not the only thing in my life!"

"Oh? What else is there, then? What else is there BESIDES hunting Rampage?"

Depth Charge leaned back on the tree and blinked. He returned his gaze to Christine, who stood with her fists balled up, shaking in frustration, her cheeks stained with tears.

"There's… there's…"

"Come on, WHAT else is there? Tell me!"

He didn't reply and stared at the ground.

"Nothing, right? There's nothing else! You're going to keep hunting him forever until you catch him and destroy him, and there you'll find yourself on the other side of purpose with NOTHING else in your life!"

"No."

"What else is there, then?"

He wasn't sure how he could explain it. There _was_ something else, a piece of the happy past brought back to him…

"Something. Something from before. I don't remember enough to know what it is, but it's there." He shrugged and ignored the biting pain as it lanced up through his back and shoulder. "You've given it back to me. I don't know what it is yet. Maybe someday I'll know. But there is something more than hunting X."

"Me? What did I do?" Christine's aggressive stance disappeared as she walked up close to him, looking questioningly.

"You became my friend… I guess."

"Of course I am. You're stuck with me for life."

"Does that mean I have to hear your thoughts until the end of my days? Primus…"

"Yep!" She laughed, then squeaked as he picked her up and put her in his lap. His optics held a kind light and he seemed to smile with them.

"I haven't had a friend in a long time. Not willingly, anyway. You should consider yourself honored."

"Oh, I do. It's not everyday a human gets the chance to meet a Transformer from another dimension." She frowned thoughtfully. "Hey, how did you know what my ideal robot form and name was?"

He chuckled softly. "Magic, of course."

Settling herself in his lap Christine sighed, then gave a goofy grin at Depth Charge when he glanced at her. She giggled, leaning against his side to get closer to his face.

"Ya know, I always thought your nose was cute. Like a little button."

He blinked, rubbing his face with a finger. "I have a nose?"

"Yeah. It's right in between your eyes, silly." She pointed at it. "I've always wanted to poke it." She moved to do so.

"I might explode."

Christine jerked her hand back. "Really?"

"Maybe."

"…No you won't."

"How do you know?"

"Cuz robots don't explode when you poke their noses. Duh."

"Duh?"

She nodded as if it confirmed the fact. "Duh."

"I see…"

"Besides, what would happen if Rampage punched you in the face?"

"It's my secret trump card. I'll take him down with me."

Christine stared at him for a long time, trying to figure out if he was being serious or not. Finally she concluded:

"You're weird."

He shrugged in reply.

"Maybe you'll turn green?"

"I don't want to be green."

"Why?"

"Because it's not my color."

"Maybe you'll turn red, then?"

"I don't want to be red," he grumbled, getting annoyed.

"Why?"

"It's not my color either. It's blue."

"Will you turn inside-out?"

He blinked. "No." When she started to ask another question he silenced her by covering her mouth with his thumb. "You ask too many questions, kid."

She gave him another goofy grin when he removed his thumb. "How am I supposed to learn anything if I don't ask any questions?"

"True, but you could start by asking questions that make sense."

"Can I please poke your nose?"

"Only if I get to poke yours."

Christine pondered the thought, but decided against it. "I'd let you but I think you might break it by accident…"

"Well, there's your answer."

"Why would you want to poke my nose anyway?"

Depth Charge dragged his hand across his face and counted to ten to keep his temper. Surprisingly, it didn't take him long to calm down. _Primus, I'm getting used to her silliness…_

"To make you ask questions."

"Oh." A long pause. "Did you know bologna can stick to the ceiling?"

He raised an optical ridge. "And you say _I'm _weird…?"

"I'm always weird. You should know that by now."

"Yes, I should know better than to expect anything normal from _you_, kid."

She giggled again and smiled at him. "You know, I think you'd make a great father even

now."

"…Really?"

"Uh huh. There's more to you than just the tough hunter. I can tell."

They continued talking long into the afternoon until the sun started to set in the west. Finally Depth Charge hauled himself up slowly and painfully from the tree, allowing Christine to give him a goodbye hug around his leg before he sent her home in a flash of light. He transformed to flight mode and flew off to the Maximal base inside the mountainous volcano. As soon as he stepped through the giant doors he was bombarded with questions from Optimal Optimus.

"Depth Charge! Where have you been all day?"

He somehow prevented himself from giving a sarcastic answer. "Out and about."

"What was your problem this morning? What were you talking about? A girl?"

"It's been taken care of." He walked down the pathway to the CR Chamber in a wobbly gait as if he were drunk just to confuse Cheetor and Rattrap as he went by them.

"What happened to you? You look like scrap!"

Depth Charge pushed a button on the CR Chamber and the door swung open. Spinning on his good foot, he made a face at Optimus and crossed his arms.

"I was fighting Rampage. Duh."

The CR Chamber door closed before the Maximal leader could say anything more. The chamber's walls prevented anyone from hearing him laugh at everyone's bewildered expressions.

"I think da fish-bot swam in some bad water taday…" Rattrap made the "gone cuckoo" sign, rolling his optics.

END PART FOUR


	5. Connection part 5

**Connection**

_Part Five_

By Starath

Author's Note: _Here we go with part 5, second to last in the series! I'm a bit sad that this is coming to a close, but all good things can't last forever. To warn you there's some harsh language within this. Mainframe Entertainment and Hasbro own the Beast Wars and its characters, not me. Thanks LDC for helping, again! _

"So where do you suppose he goes, anyway?"

Rhinox groaned softly, shaking his head as he continued typing away at the computer console. This again. Rattrap had brought it up only eight times today so far. A record. Beside him Black Arachnia rolled her crimson optics and threw up her claws, spinning in her seat to face the smaller Maximal, who was casually leaning on the center table.

"Will you drop that already? We have a few more important things to worry about, like the fact Megatron became a _dragon_ the other day?"

"I ain't sayin' dat's somethin' we shouldn't worry about, legs. I'm just wonderin' where he goes off to all da time."

"Here's a thought—maybe to hunt Rampage? Ever think of that?"

"Well yeah, o' course. But dat doesn't explain how he disappears off da radar so often."

Black Arachnia took a slow breath to calm her temper before explaining, "Grape-face has jamming stations all over. When Depth Charge goes hunting, he's almost always in those areas. One can assume that's where Rampage is a lot, within Predacon territory."

"Nuh uh. I disagree, sistah." Rattrap moved next to her and tapped a few key commands to bring up a map on the computer screen. Dark purple circles appeared to show the places that were blocked off with radio jamming stations. He pointed at a few spots on the map.

"First o' all, I've watched his energy sig disappear off da map here, here, and here. Nowhere near the jammed areas. And when someone goes inta one of dem places, dere sig gradually fades out. But not his. Just poof! All gone."

"I guess I see your point…" she admitted, turning to him, "If this is bothering you so much why don't you just ask him?"

"Wit' da way he's been actin' lately! Two weeks ago he was swearin' up an' down while commitin' murder ta sheet metal wit' his bare hands, and den next thing ya know he's a chummy goof! Ya know he actually called me by _name_ yesterday instead of somethin' insultin', like Rodent or Garbage-Breath? He hasn't even talked back to Pop Op in a week! I'm telling ya, something ain't right wit' him!"

"You'd rather have a rude insulting Depth Charge than a _nice _one?"

"If dat's what's supposed to be normal, yes!"

"…Whatever. Personally I don't mind it."

"Nor do I." Rhinox spoke for the first time, although still focused on his work. "I have asked, by the way. I've noticed how his energy signature disappears too. The nice-guy act vanished in a blink. He wouldn't say anything at all, just that it's something he 'has to do.' Don't worry about it Rattrap. Maybe someday he'll tell us, but for now it isn't our place to know."

"Yeah, but will we evah?"

"Why should it matter? If he's happy because of something, let it be. Happiness is very rare in his world. It's his business, not ours."

"Still…"

Black Arachnia sighed, pushing her seat away from the console before standing up.

"Well bots, I'm off to sentry duty. Have fun."

"Yeah, not as much fun as you'll have with da Bird-dog," Rattrap smirked, then cringed and ducked a slap from her. "I was just kiddin'!"

She tried again and swatted him on the head before stalking off. "Sure you were."

"Heh heh, ya got dat right." Settling into the seat, he prepared to take a nap when alert alarms jolted him upright. "What in da galaxy!"

Rhinox pounded hard and fast on the keyboard. The area map Rattrap brought up was replaced by an image from space. A large glowing ball of white and blue light filled up the screen.

"A comet?"

"No. Its trajectory is too controlled for that, and it isn't made of rock and ice." Frowning at the readings he was receiving, Rhinox shook his head in disbelief and quickly compared data with some stored information he had saved on the computer. Rattrap leaned over his shoulder.

"Well, if it isn't a comet, what is it?"

Rhinox felt his spark sink as his comparison gave the conclusion he dreaded. He looked at the computer screen, unable to keep the grave tone out of his voice.

"Something I thought we'd never see again."

He should be hunting X. Or setting up scanners somewhere. Or hunting X. Or destroying a jamming station. Or hunting X. Or maybe even helping around the Maximal base…. Or hunting X. Depth Charge sighed, blowing human blonde hair out of his face. It was such annoying stuff. Why do humans need hair anyway? _All it does is get in the way, _he thought, brushing it away from his blue eyes. He had been in this human body numerous times by now but it still felt foreign to him, as if he simply didn't fit. Well, maybe because he was _really_ supposed to be a ten-foot Maximal warrior and not a human to begin with had something to do with it. His conscience kept telling him he should be back in the Beast Wars world hunting X but he resisted it and stayed put against the railing, looking down onto the gym floor where Christine's class was playing a game called "Ultimate Frisbee." It made him restless though, doing nothing except watching and thinking. His thoughts strayed too easily onto the burning desire to hunt and destroy Protoform X. The creature still lived, and here he stood idle! Yet… A new longing had slowly come into being in the past two weeks…the need to find some other meaning to his life other than justice. No, it was vengeance, that's what it really was. And there was _something_ there. He still didn't know what it was. It simply existed, and it was itching at the back of his mind, prying at things buried in the past, before X changed his life.

"Did I even _have_ a life before he changed it?" Depth Charge wondered softly aloud. Logic told him of course he did, but he couldn't remember anything but the tiniest bits and pieces. He had a family, a beautiful little girl and a loving mate. His daughter had the same huge red optics he did, but she had her mother's smile… whose face he couldn't remember. No matter how hard he tried to remember his mate he couldn't, and if he finally caught a glimpse of her in his memory or heard her voice, X's horrible green optics and laughter filled his head. He found them shortly after the monster had killed them, sprawled out on the floor, a mother holding her child as if they were sleeping… in pools of their own mech fluid….

"No! Don't think of that." Depth Charge hissed through his teeth, shaking his head to banish the awful images. X was there when he found them, and he laughed with such glee at the agony Depth Charge cried when he found his broken family. That was only the beginning of the massacre… Metal railing shrieked as he clenched it tight and twisted it, barely able to prevent himself from tearing it apart. Humans can't do that. He was human right now, although he madly wanted to become his rightful form, go back to the Beast Wars, and beat the slag out of Protoform X. _But_ _there is more to my life! Think of something else, you fool!_ Shaking hard, Depth Charge forced himself to let go of the railing and dug back into his memory. What else was there that he couldn't remember? His friends? School? His job? His job…. Before becoming head of security at Colony Omicron he had been a police officer. Yeah, that was it. Those were some of the best years of his life. Faces of people he knew floated up from his memory and it pained him because he couldn't remember their names. Yet seeing their happy expressions made him happy too.

From the gym floor, Christine looked up to the young man leaning on the railing of the level above her. After wiping sweat from her face she waved, trying to get Depth Charge's attention. They needed another player on her team for the Ultimate Frisbee game; the competition was slaughtering them. She remembered to call him by his human name, even though after the time he carried her into the weight room everyone knew she called him 'Depth Charge' too, for reasons they didn't understand.

"Daniel!"

He didn't hear her, completely lost in content memories of the past. As a police officer he had a spotless record. He captured the most criminals and put them behind bars, even back then he was relentless at hunting down those who didn't follow the law. Yet he was gentle too, helping younger Transformers find their parents if they got lost or pulling a small boy out of a place he got stuck in and couldn't get down by himself. The look of gratitude the boy gave him… absolutely adoring and thankful… He could still remember the child saying, "Thank you sir" before Depth Charge set him down…

"Hey Daaaaniel!"

The colony was safer because of him. He kept order and protected the weak and innocent. That was his primary function long ago, a calling he found when he attended Academy with his friends. And it felt _good_. People trusted him. He always got the job done. He never failed a single assignment, which earned him lots of recognition.

"Hey DANNY!"

One day that recognition got him an unexpected promotion. He became head of security for the entire Colony Omicron, where he had lived most of his life. And then he got a new assignment, to contain the creature called Protoform X…

"Oh DC!"

Things went well for a few months until all hell broke loose. Protoform X escaped. On _his_ watch. _No! What went wrong? How could he have escaped! _Reliving that moment when he was told of the escape, Depth Charge held on tight to the railing again, shaking his head in disbelief, ignoring the scruffy blonde hair when it fell into his face. X had to be captured! Before… before…

"Depth Chaaaarge! Yo, fishface!"

Too late. Reports were already coming in. Mysterious deaths and disappearances. Not too many at first, but then they came in by the dozens. X was destroying the colony and killing its people! He had to stop him! Their first encounter… somehow X knew his name and said he'd been watching him…. And they were going to start to play a game…Depth Charge didn't quite understand and refused to "play", until he found his mate and daughter dead… That started it all…

"Hey DORKBOT!"

And soon…. Soon the final battle will come. He could feel it. There would come a time where he will stare that monster in the optics and end his life. It didn't matter if Depth Charge went too. If that's what it took, then so be it. Far too many souls had been destroyed by that monster's hand; one more wouldn't matter if it ended the reign of terror forever. And it was all because he failed in the first place. He failed to keep those people safe. They _trusted_ him! And they paid with their lives. It was only fair that he died to join them. There was nothing else in his life but hunting X. Through Christine's mind he'd seen glimpses of his end whether or not she meant to show him. _But what about her? I am her support, her inspiration, for whatever twisted reasons we've been brought together. I should start to distance myself from her so the departure won't be so harsh…_ In truth he didn't really want to die though, because the thought that kept nagging him about there being _something _else in his life wouldn't go away. Yet no matter what he thought of, his mind always made the same loop back to X. The death, the destruction, the relentless eternal hunt… being covered in the blood of victims so many times over… the anger, the burning fury that now kept him alive…. All because of his failure and Protoform X….

Christine reached out to Depth Charge and gently nudged him with the broomstick while one of her classmates watched. He didn't respond to the first poke, so she prodded him again a little harder. With a vicious snarl Depth Charge spun around, grabbed the broomstick and effortlessly snapped it in half between his hands. Startled, she pulled away what was left of the broom and handed it to her classmate.

"That's why I didn't want to poke him myself. I like having my arm in one piece."

"Yeah, I see…" With wide eyes he turned to go down the stairs to put the broom away. When they were alone Depth Charge demanded,

"What do you want, girl!"

"I've been calling to you for the past five minutes. Didn't you hear me?" Carefully she approached him, giving a wide berth just in case. He watched her warily, visibly shaking in contained anger. "No, I didn't."

"Oh, alright…."

With a huff he turned back to lean on the railing, staring at the ground without really seeing anything at all.

"What's the matter, Depth Charge?"

"Nothing."

"You look too angry and worked up for it to be 'nothing'. And you've been metal sculpting with your bare hands." She nodded at the bent and twisted railing.

"Oops."

Christine sighed and sat down on a bench. "C'mon Depth Charge, you can tell me. I'm always willing to listen. Cut the tough guy thing. I can be just as sarcastic as you."

"I doubt that."

"C'mon grumpy gills. Park yer butt here and talk." She patted the bench.

"I don't want to." Instead he started pacing.

"Oh no, don't do that. You'll get more worked up if you pace." Jumping up she gently grabbed onto his black shirt and pulled him to the bench. He resisted, growling, but after a moment he sat down grudgingly, making a point to sit far away from her. After a moment of tense silence she said:

"So?"

"So what?"

"Talk, buddy bot. I don't care what it is, just talk. You obviously need to."

"Fine. I think Primal is an idiot, the rat stinks and Black Arachnia has a hotter-than-hell skidplate since she became a Transmetal. There, done." He started to get up.

"Oh no you're not!" Christine yanked on his shirt to get him to sit again. "That's not exactly what I meant."

"You said you didn't care!"

"There's more to it than that, isn't there? Is it about Rampage again?"

Depth Charge growled, swiping at his annoying blonde hair to get it out of his face. "It's _always _about him! And his name is X, not Rampage. He doesn't deserve a proper name."

"Yet he deserves every waking moment of your time loathing and stewing over him and what he did."

"Yes! You can't begin to understand what he's done to so many innocent lives, and mine as well!"

"I can imagine."

"No, you can't. He took _everything_ from me. My family, my friends, my home, my entire life. Because… because I failed."

"What? No, you didn't fail—"

"Yes I did! If I hadn't, he wouldn't have gotten away! He was my responsibility! I had to keep the colony safe! That was my job!"

"It isn't all your fault, Depth Charge. Maybe a lock malfunctioned? Maybe he figured out how to get loose? Ramp… erm, X is very smart. Maybe he bribed the guard dog? Who knows? But the blame doesn't fall entirely on you."

"Yes it does. I could have… could have… could have done _something! _By the time we found the two guards that watched him they were already dead. Torn apart. Their sparks consumed. On the wall, a message written in their mech fluid: 'Catch me if you can'. Even then he treated this like a game. And I was to become his opponent. But why me? All I wanted was to be happy with my family, but he took them away too…" Depth Charge felt his face become wet, and he rubbed at tears of fury rolling down his cheeks. "… Oh great, I'm leaking."

"No silly, you're crying." Christine laughed softly, digging in her pocket to find a tissue. She handed it to him. "You've been carrying those emotions for a long time without any outlet but fighting and raw anger. Humans have a few more ways of expressing sorrow."

"Oh. Yeah, it's been a long time alright… well over one hundred stellarcycles."

"Really?"

"Yes. I've never stopped hunting X, and I never will even after two more hundred stellarcycles. However long it takes to catch him."

"Wow. That's devotion."

"Heh, well, it's not like I have much else to do. I was trying to remember what my life was like before X, that's why I got so worked up earlier. Everything kept coming back to him."

"Oh? What did you remember? I'm honestly very curious about what you used to do."

He wiped the last of his tears away. "I can't remember very much. Just my family. And my old job. And I think… Yeah… I went to Academy school, to train to become a police officer when I was young. Those were fun times…" He chuckled as a few dusty memories played out in his mind.

"Why is that? C'mon, I wanna know!" Christine curled her knees to her chest, bracing her feet on the edge of the bench, looking at him expectantly.

"Heh heh… well, there was this one time… in one class we were jokers all the time. The police Chief—our teacher—had a locker in the classroom he always put his stuff in before starting the class. One day… Heh heh… Our smallest member of the class, a little femmebot… climbed into his locker just before he came in… to scare him, you know… We kept quiet as he walked in, bright well-behaved students awaiting their teacher…. He opened the locker, put his stuff on the shelf, said hello to the girl and closed it and went on with the class like everything was normal… By the Pit… it was hilarious."

She laughed along with Depth Charge as he continued on, "And we used to pass stuff around the room. Just for the heck of it. Well, to confuse everyone, especially the Chief. A pair of handcuffs. The stapler. Once we managed to get a body bag partway down the row before he took it away from us. And the time I made a stink bomb that accidentally went off in the middle of class. That was great!"

"Hahaha… So you were quite the joker, huh?"

"Oh yes. I miss the old Chief. He was a tough bot but liked having fun too."

"When you go back to Cybertron you should see him again."

Depth Charge's laughter abruptly cut off and his face hardened into a scowl. "No."

"… Why?"

"Because X killed him."

"Oh… I'm sorry…"

"Along with everyone else on Colony Omicron. Except me. I'm to be his eternal opponent in his sick game until I end it. Forever. That's the way it always is. Everything comes back to him, down to he and I. Soon enough we'll both be judged. So long as he goes straight to the Pit I don't care."

"No! Depth Charge, there's more to your life than that!"

"There isn't. Everything in the past is ruined because of him."

"Then stop looking behind you and start something new!"

At that he turned to face her. "I don't know how."

"Then learn! Have you figured out what that 'something' is that you told me about two weeks ago? You said it gave you something else in your life!"

"No… I don't know what it is yet. I doubt I ever will."

"Don't talk like that! You can change your fate! Only you! It isn't fixed! You can go down in flames with X or you can emerge from them, stronger than you ever were before! Don't just give up! That isn't you!"

"How do you know _me?_"

"If you can have the same determination and devotion to hunting X you can have it for _anything_ else in your life! You'd never give up on catching him. Never. So NEVER give up living your wonderful life!"

"Wonderful? HA! My life is anything but 'wonderful'. All because of him."

"JUST because of him? What about your decisions to make your OWN life hell, allowing your anger and need for revenge to consume you? Rampage may have been the start of that but only you control its path and its end!"

…_She's right,_ he realized, and absentmindedly tore apart the tissue he'd been holding into small shreds. Christine scooted closer to him, lowering her voice.

"There's always hope, you know? When it rains those big storm clouds pour, but there's always a silver lining to them somewhere. Someday they'll break up and you'll see the sun again. Nobody is doomed to any fate other than what they give themselves. And you have the privilege to live much longer than I or any other human ever will. Yes, you've seen some horrible things but you've seen some beautiful things too. There are many more of those things if you'll just open your eyes to see them, rather than just focusing on the bad stuff."

"I am not meant to be saved, Christine."

"Yes you are! Haven't you been listening to me? Are you listening to _yourself_? Don't accept what those demons are saying! Fight them! Banish them! They are wrong!"

_Why should I? _He asked himself, and then a stronger voice answered, also his own: _Because there is more than this. I protect the weak and innocent. I help people. I am NOT an eternal hunter! You KNOW she's right. Stop being so stubborn. Look, she's crying because of you. You're her hero now, and you're killing her faith in you! …She is? I am…?_

Depth Charge blinked, looking up from staring at the floor and the little pieces of white tissue in a pile at his feet. Christine was curled up in a tight ball, leaning against the railing and the wall beside her, trying very hard not to make a sound as she cried. Her gaze was locked on something, yet nothing in front of her, refusing to look at him. Guilt set in and the anger he always felt drained away.

"Aw kid, don't cry…"

"I… I don't understand how one can be so lost…" She managed to say, "But there's always hope, ALWAYS! For you for me for everybody. You can't die. You CAN'T! You're too strong for that!" She finally looked at him with wet pleading eyes. "You helped me, but why can't you help yourself? It's never too late to _live!_"

"…That's very true. I can try, at least."

"No! It's do or die!"

He had nothing to say to that. True reality had been pushed in front of him for the first time. There was more than hunting X. It was his choice to find what it was. His fate wasn't completely tied to X's. He was the one who would be deciding it in the end. Sighing, Depth Charge shook his head, blowing hair out of his face. He listened to Christine's crying a moment more before sliding next to her on the bench.

"You're right, okay? I know that. Getting it through my thick head is another matter. Stop crying, please? And if you curl up any tighter you're going to become a ball, literally. I'll have to roll you to wherever you want to go."

She giggled, then sniffled.

"I'd give you a tissue or something, but…" He held up the tattered remains of the one she'd given him. "I don't think this would be very useful to you."

Uncurling herself, she gave him a small smile. "It's okay. I have more."

"Oh, okay. Good. I wasn't going to let you use my shirt as a snot rag."

Laughing she stood up and dug in her pocket for another tissue. She glanced down to the gym floor where her class still ran around playing Ultimate Frisbee.

"Hey, I came up here to begin with to ask you if you wanted to play. We need another team member. If we keep sitting here we'll just make ourselves more depressed.

Some activity will do us some good. Want to join in?"

"Yeah, sure. The whole point is to get the frisbee into the other team's end zone, right?"

"By catching it, yes. And I'm good at catching. We can be a pair and you throw it. They'll never know what hit 'em! Just don't run anybody over, okay?"

"If they get in my way it's their own slagging fault."

A day later Depth Charge visited Christine again briefly in the morning just before her first class started. He told her he wouldn't be around for a while because things were heating up in the Beast Wars. Megatron and the other Predacons had lost their base so it was important he helped to find them. He attempted to sound assured and positive, but he couldn't keep a looming thought out of his mind. He didn't know how or when it would happen, but his final battle was coming. Christine, ever hopeful, said that everything would be fine. As far as she knew the Maximals would win the War and he would go home soon. His fate wouldn't be dying with Rampage if he took control of it. Depth Charge wanted to believe her, and although he didn't he pretended to so she wouldn't get worried about him.

"Just don't forget to come say goodbye before you go home, okay?" She asked him, and he felt his spark sink into a pit. That's exactly what he intended to do today—say goodbye—but he couldn't directly or she'd panic and start another speech. At the moment he had plenty already weighing on his mind, including guilt. He didn't want to leave her forever without a proper goodbye. And saying it would hurt him more than he cared to admit, not to mention how much it would hurt her. He couldn't bear the thought. She had become more than just an annoyance, more than just a small child he had to baby-sit and teach how to be strong. She was his friend, and for that he would be ever grateful. Yet, such a golden heart shouldn't have to worry about a marked soul like his. Christine stood on her toes to become taller and looked up at him, trying to see his blue eyes underneath messy blonde hair.

"Okay, Depth Charge?"

"Huh? …Oh. Yeah kid, I'll come say goodbye." He drew in a ragged breath, "But for now, I want you to know that… that you've helped me as much, if not more, as I've helped you."

"Aw, no problem!" she squeaked, and then dropped her backpack for a moment to give him a quick surprise hug. "Anytime! It's what friends do!"

"—Ooof! Heh… yeah." He felt tears welling up in his eyes but he blinked them back, squeezing gently in a return hug before she let go. Reluctantly he took a step back. This was it. Time to leave her in peace. "I'd better go now before Optimal and his bozos wonder where I disappeared to."

"They don't already?"

"I'm not around often anyway, although I have been asked. But I didn't tell." He sighed, turning to walk down the hall, giving a short wave. "Well, see ya around."

"Alright! Good luck Depth Charge!"

"…Yeah." _I'm going to need it. _As he faded back into the Beast Wars world he took one last glance at her. _It was nice knowing you kid. Goodbye._

But she didn't hear him.

_The day went rather well_, Christine decided on her way home from school when her father drove her home. A plastic bag crinkled in her hands and giggling she opened it to look at two new CDs and a brand new portable CD player, a replacement for the old one that recently died. She hadn't bought anything for herself since Christmas so she was happy about getting the new things. As soon as she got home she raced into her room to open her new toys. _I have to make Depth Charge listen to some of my music one of these days,_ she thought, tearing the wrapping off of a CD, _Who knows? Maybe he'll like heavy metal… hee… no pun intended. _His solemn face from their meeting this morning appeared in her mind and she slumped, staring out the bedroom window. _I hope he's okay… He said Megs lost his base, so soon… No, don't think of that. It won't happen that way. He'll change it. Our future is what we make of it, not what we are simply given._ _He knows that. He has the will to do something about it… I hope…_ Since the winter days were becoming longer the sun still shined through her window, its light gradually disappearing as it fell in the west. To ward off the coming darkness she clicked on the bedroom light, put her new CD in her CD player and pulled out her homework.

Deeply involved with writing a summary on an article she had to read, Christine didn't pay any attention to the new music blasting from her CD player and barely noticed when her father came to tell her he and her mother and brother were going out for supper. She elected to stay home since she had so much schoolwork to do. Outside the world darkened as night set in and silence settled into the house after her family left, except for the music. Frowning she flipped through a book to find the source of a quote when a wave of panic swept in and hit her hard. Shaking her head in shock she tried to catch her breath. That panic wasn't hers. She was fine a moment ago--- Her mind shot forwards into another world. Depth Charge stood on the ocean floor with a looming mass before him. She heard thoughts that weren't her own.

_There it is, the Nemesis. And I'm the one who has to stop it…_

_"Depth Charge to Optimus. You called it right. I'm going in."_

"_Confirmed. And Depth Charge… good luck."_

"…_Yeah." _

_I'm going to need a lot more than luck to—  
_

_"Think you can save the universe, fish boy? Don't make me laugh!"  
_

_X! No, you're NOT going to take me down now!_

Christine swallowed hard, dropping her book, squeezing her eyes shut as her head pounded from the sound of a sudden huge explosion. His nervousness immediately shifted to disgust. She heard angry yells from Depth Charge and Rampage as they traded kicks and punches. _No! Depth Charge, don't do this!_ She screamed to him in her mind, but he didn't hear her. The connection she had with him had reversed itself—in the beginning he heard her thoughts and saw her world, but now she heard and saw his. And she could do nothing but listen.

_"I have no time for you, X!"_

_None at all! I must stop the Nemesis and Megatron! The future of the universe is at stake! That's more important than fighting you right now!_

_"Like you had no time for Starbase Rugby? You had FRIENDS there! As I recall, tasty ones, too!"_

The disgust quickly became burning hatred, searing glaringly across her mind.

_You FREAK! You ate them all! I haven't forgotten that! The Nemesis can wait! You must PAY for taking those innocent lives! Energon… This will kill you! GAH! Let GO!_

_"Pathetic!" Rampage snarled._

_"SHUT UP!"_

Her body stung, sharing his pain when he hit the ocean floor hard after Rampage threw him back.

_"Face it fins, you can't win!"_

_We'll see about that, monster!_

Rampage's cry of outrage filled her head after a crash of energon striking metal. Depth Charge's haunting laugh followed.

_So this is it. It comes down to he and I, just like I knew it would. I have to wait no longer. Soon the hunt will be done for both of us. Let's get it over with X. The game has gone on long enough. It's about time to finish this… And I've been looking forward to it!_

Excited…? He was _excited? _Why? Christine couldn't understand. Through their connection she felt no fear from him at all, just excitement and anticipation, even a bit of giddiness. And also… he was frighteningly calm. _CALM?_ _How can you be CALM!_

"You stupid fish! You think you're going to die and you're HAPPY about it!" She shrieked aloud, "What about the other things in your life? Don't you care? I DO! Please, don't die! You need to fight him, yes! But don't give up your life too! What about taking control of your _fate!_"

Reaching over to her CD player she cranked up the music in an effort to drown out his thoughts. She didn't want to hear them anymore, and fell into a corner of her room, crying uncontrollably.

"Please Depth Charge…. Don't die…"

Still his thoughts came.

_I have to do this. I must end his life. Only me. I was meant to from the beginning. Nothing else matters but destroying him so there will be no more victims, no more pain, no more terror. – SLAG, energon!_

Christine heard Depth Charge plow through it and land heavily on his feet, bubbles and water swirling around him.

_You're going to have to do better than that, X!_

"Depth Charge, please!" She cried over the music and his thoughts, shaking with sobs. But of course he couldn't hear her. A loud hum vibrated the water around Depth Charge as the Nemesis awoke under Megatron's command. Energon crackled and hissed fiercely as he barely kept Rampage's energon shard from piercing his armor.

_ARGH! Slagging crab! Get off me! The Nemesis! I was supposed to stop it! I still have a chance if I can just…slaggit, he's too… strong---_

_"I was your assignment and you FAILED!" Rampage sneered._

The strength of fury surged through Depth Charge.

_NO! I won't make the mistake of doing so AGAIN! GET OFF! I won't fail! I won't! I will destroy you, MONSTER! Nothing matters but destroying you! Not even my life! There is no hope for either of us! It ends NOW!_

_"**RAW energon, right through your twisted SPARK! Take it straight to the Pit, you sickening piece of SLAG!**"_

She saw Depth Charge's face as he paused.

_…Hope? Is that what it is? Is that what she was trying to show me…?_

Mad laughter from his mortal enemy echoed in her mind.

_Yes. But it's too late for that… First I must finish this, then I can finally rest…_

He forced the energon blade down into Rampage's chest. A blinding flash, a thunderous explosion…

Silence.

The hero…

Gone.

END PART FIVE


	6. Connection part 6

**Connection**

_Part Six_

By Starath

Author's Note:  _Well folks, this is it—the last fic in the "Connection" series. For the final time, Beast Wars and its characters belong to Mainframe Entertainment and Hasbro (as much as I'd like to adopt Depth Charge now). I do not own the song "Do or Die" by Papa Roach. Thankies to my brother for helping me with this part. And once again, Landray Depth Charge, thank you for helping me with this series. _

Dragging herself out of bed the morning after Depth Charge died took a maximum effort. Christine had been up almost the entire night crying. Her parents had no idea what was wrong, other that she kept repeating "He's gone" whenever they asked and then started crying again. She didn't want to go to school but went through her morning routine automatically anyway; barely awake enough to walk in a straight line. Today she wore a black sweatshirt and black jeans, but underneath the sweatshirt she wore what she had nicknamed her "fishy shirt", which was blue with a fish-scale pattern printed on it. She wore it in memory of the friend she would never see again.

In all honesty she was a wreck. Her parents suggested she stay home. But she refused, saying:

"He would want me to go to school today. I have gym class. I won't let him down."

They didn't understand what she meant, but they didn't argue with the determined light in her tired eyes. She said little to them afterwards and hardly spoke the rest of the day. When a classmate in her gym class asked,

"Hey, where's Daniel today?"

She replied: "He's gone home."

Her thoughts kept running through the battle from the night before. She saw the whole thing played out within her mind, heard what was said and Depth Charge's inner thoughts, all the way to the bitter end when they were disconnected forever. His continuous comforting presence had been removed. He was gone. What hurt the most was that, looking back on the last conversation they had, she realized he was saying goodbye to her then. And she didn't catch it, letting him walk right out of her life! This wasn't the first time someone had done that to her. But no, she was still naïve and trusting in people… that they wouldn't leave her like that. What was Depth Charge THINKING? If… If only… Sorrow easily shifted into anger and Christine barely kept herself from screaming in the middle of her second morning class. _If only you had tried to change your fate! You had the choice! And what, didn't you have enough guts to tell me goodbye? WHY? So I wouldn't worry? Damn it, if you weren't already dead I'd KILL YOU! _Instead of screaming she scribbled madly in her notebook hard and fast, so loudly the teacher had to ask her to stop. Already close to the breaking point, she had to leave the room before she started crying. When she returned ten minutes later, the blank mask that hid her toiling emotions was back in place.

During lunch she found a secluded place so it wouldn't matter if she snapped. Or talked to herself. The connection she had with Depth Charge had been cut off, so once again she was alone with her own thoughts in her mind. Never again would she have someone watching over her shoulder. She had to stand on her own now and live off her own strength. Although terrified, like a child who was lost from her mother for the first time, she assured herself that she could do it.

"I can and will. He taught me well enough to do so. I won't disappoint him, I won't! It'll be hard… but I can do this…. I just wish I… had been able… to tell him thanks…"

Her strong resolve crumbled as tears stained her cheeks and her throat grew tight as she started sobbing. _That idiot! Why did he have to die? I told him his fate wasn't fixed! There's always hope! He realized that at the very end, but by then it was too late! I tried to help you, I did! You weren't a doomed soul! You didn't have to die with your enemy! But you were so set on killing Rampage…Depth Charge… Maybe I can't understand exactly what you've gone through, but there could have been so much more in your life! You're rough on the outside but you have a good heart… I just wish… you could have seen that too…_ _Are you happy now, though? Are you finally resting in peace? _

_"_But why didn't you listen to me…?" she whispered, "Why did you have to leave me without really saying goodbye?"

_Alone! I have my friends and family but I'm still alone! I'll be strong for you… I'll try… since you were for me…And I'll always remember you. Always._

The footprints from their first meeting were long gone with the melted snow. Christine still remembered exactly where he stood though, talking to her that cold night over a month ago. She had come home from school twenty minutes ago but wanted to take her time going into the house to savor memories that would have to last her for life since she would never see Depth Charge again. She reached out, touching nothing, but imagined feeling his warm smooth metal. She sniffled, keeping a stricken face as she forced herself not to cry, but the words he spoke in her mind came unbidden along with fresh tears.

_You can fight to regain what you once had, a gift that I will never have the privilege of receiving. What you did not have you have a chance to create. You can do this. You have the will for it. You must simply take one step at a time. That's all._

"I will, Depth Charge, I will. You helped me take my first steps and I'll continue on my own. Thank you."

Stepping back, she sighed and shivered in a breeze of chilly winter wind. It eased her tired mind a little that at least she had said thank you, even if he didn't hear her say it. She started to walk out into the backyard where the large impact crater of Depth Charge's first arrival still was.

"Christine?"

Spinning, she saw her brother standing in the garage entry.

"You realize that the trash isn't going to talk back, right?"

"I wasn't talking to the garbage can."

"'Scuse me… the recycling can."

Any other time she would have retorted with something just as sarcastic, but today she was too drained. "Whatever…"

"When did you meet him?"

"Huh?"

"You were saying 'he's gone' this morning. Him who?"

"Someone who's gone and never coming back."

"Could be, but you never know."

"No, he's gone forever."

"Well that can't be good, forever is a long time…"

"Yes, it is. But at least I knew him to begin with."

"That's the important part, right?"

"…Yeah."

"Well, since I'm not a fan of being an icicle, I'm heading in. I suggest you do the same, the cold'll get to ya," he turned back into the garage and left her to her thoughts. Christine took a slow breath, watching him go. Winter wind blasted hard at her again, but, undaunted, she stared into the backyard with a steady gaze.

"Goodbye, warrior. May we meet again someday."

The cold breeze blew in reply as she walked into the garage, carrying what sounded like a low laugh. Her heart stopped and she spun around… only to see nothing. _Don't do this to yourself, you didn't hear anything, _she scolded herself, _he's gone. _

After changing out of her school clothes Christine settled into her small green chair next to her bed and slipped one of the new CDs she had bought yesterday into her new portable CD player. Doing homework held little meaning to her tonight, so instead she was going to drown out her thoughts and sorrow with some rock music. This was the CD she was listening to the night before, but never actually paid any attention to when she started hearing Depth Charge's last battle. Outside night fell quietly, and she nearly fell asleep in her chair, exhausted from lack of sleep and crying too much in the past twenty-four hours. Then a new song started and its first words immediately grabbed her attention:

_Today I saw my hero fall apart_

_The one who taught me to be strong_

_On the outside I look fine_

_But on the inside I am dying…_

_My strength is overcome by pain_

_My love for you remains the same_

_The loneliness is setting in… _

_I have no one to free my sins…_

_It's never too late to live your life_

_The time is now, it's do or die!_

_It's never too late to live your life_

_The time is now, it's yours and mine!_

It perfectly described the whole conversation she had with Depth Charge two days before! Although she was sure she had cried enough to run out of tears they came once more as she listened to the song.

_Now it's my turn to help you out_

'_Cause you were there when I was down_

_It's hard for me to see you this way_

_Losing all your sanity…_

_You helped me keep my dreams alive_

_Without you how will I survive?_

"But I tried to help you, yet didn't do enough! And you did so much for me… Depth Charge…"

_It's time for me to be a man_

_Now I finally understand…_

"I don't understand, though! Why didn't you try to save yourself? You could have! You could have…At least you understood what I tried to show you…There's always hope… but now you don't need it anymore…"

A knock came on her bedroom door. Christine's father poked his head in and his face fell when he saw his sobbing daughter.

"Five minutes 'til supper, okay?"

She didn't hear him very well over the music, but she nodded anyway and stopped the CD player before the song could finish._ I already know how it ends… _

"Yeah Dad."

She hardly said a word to her family as they ate supper, which worried her parents further because usually she was full of stories to tell from the day and scarcely ever stopped talking so she could eat. Tonight she kept her attention on pushing food around her plate, poking at it more than she ate of it. She forced a straight face as well, refusing to give into crying again despite the frantic emotions and thoughts running through her head. The meal seemed to stretch into eternity in silence only broken when someone asked for the salt or pepper. Afterwards Christine helped clear off the table as her mother started to do the dishes.

_Alright, where the Pit am I now?_

The thought entered her mind so forcefully it startled her and she dropped the dirty bowl she was carrying. It shattered on the ceramic tiled floor.

_Oh yeah, now I just have to…_

"Christine? Are you alright?" Her mother asked in concern, putting a pot into the sink to stand beside her daughter.

_WHOA! _

Shaking her head, Christine sputtered, "No. I have to go to my room." _I can't be hearing him! He's gone! Please no, now I'm going insane! _She sped down the hall without waiting for a reply and slammed her bedroom door shut.

_DAMN it's cold out here!_

She stared at the beige colored carpet, pacing the strip between the window and her bed. _No no no. He's gone. Don't do this to yourself! He's not coming back! No matter how hard you wish and hope he is NOT. COMING. BACK!_

_I beg to differ, _replied Depth Charge's voice, sounding grumpy. _And why am I not coming back?_

_Stop it! He's gone! He can't come back. He died yesterday with Rampage. I heard him! I saw the battle! Our connection is gone now!_

_You heard WHAT? Slag… you weren't supposed to… I'm not dead, alright? I'm very much alive standing in your backyard FREEZING my skidplate off. _

_No you're not! GAH! Stop talking to yourself stupid, you can't talk to him anymore! It's NOT him! Damn it, I'm NOT going crazy! _

_Of course not. You're already crazy, kid. You and I both know that._

_SHUT UP! Stop talking to me! You're not real! You're dead! Damn! I'm finally losing it! Everything's finally getting to me. I could barely hold together for a day… Take a breath, yes. Take a breath. You're just imagining things. It's not real. You're just creating his voice since you want to hear him so badly again. That's all. _

_Ha! Not real? You want proof?_

Screwing her eyes shut she stopped pacing, shaking hard to keep herself from screaming and bawling. It wouldn't be quiet, his voice! Balling up her fists she yelled in her mind, _YES! Give me proof or go away and leave me in PEACE!_

A hard tap shook the glass of her window. She jumped and her eyes snapped open. Depth Charge waved from outside.

_Surprise!_

"HOLY FREAKIN' SLAG!"

Her winter coat flew off the chair. The bedroom door swung open and she tore down the hall and nearly fell down the basement stairs. She grabbed her winter boots, ran up the stairs and blew past her mother in the kitchen. In record time she had the boots and coat on and yanked open the sliding door. She jumped over the railing of the deck and dashed around the side of the house. There he was! Dim moonlight struck his armor and gave him a glowing aura, as if the spirit of the Maximal warrior stood there, not the living one. Christine paused in her tracks, unsure, taking in the scene. Was it _really_ him? She was afraid to go see, fearing that it was indeed just his restless spirit that had come to haunt her. Sadness set in. He saw the sorrow in her face and shifted, changing the effect moonlight had on his armor. He became whole, the real thing, smiling with his optics, stretching out a silver hand. With a burst of speed she ran to him, and if Depth Charge hadn't caught her she would have smacked right into him.

"Hey kid!" He laughed, "Miss me?"

"Oh my God YES!" She cried, and tears fell again, but this time they were from happiness. "I thought you were dead!"

He gently set her on the ground and kneeled so they were eyelevel. "Surely you didn't think you could get rid of me THAT easily…"

"How—How did you…?"

"Magic." He winked.

"As always!" Christine gave him a hug around his neck, sobbing in relief. "I… I was s-so worried about you…"

"Well, you don't have to worry about me anymore."

She then backed off with fury in her eyes and kicked him hard in the shin.

"Ow!" It didn't really hurt, but the shock of it was enough. "What was that—"

"Don't you EVER do that AGAIN, you HEAR ME! Don't EVER run off to kill evil scientific experiments again! I was worried SICK! And you didn't even say GOODBYE! You DORKBOT! If I had that sword right now I'd kick your skidplate! I thought you were DEAD! GONE! FOREVER! I CARED for you! And this is how you REPAY ME? I've cried tears enough in the past day for you to SWIM IN!"

"—Gah! Okay okay okay!" Depth Charge jumped up to dodge another kick from her, but she chased him wherever he went. "Kid, I'm sorry, alright? I didn't know you heard the battle, so I thought I gave you no reason to worry!"

"You dorkbot, you give me reasons to worry about you even WITHOUT that final battle! You scared the freakin' slag outta me! I thought you were DEAD!"

"GAH! Don't kick me again! I didn't mean to! I came back here as soon as I could!"

"WHERE the heck have you been, anyway!"

Before he could answer a car drove by, lighting up the area with its headlights. They froze until it passed by and darkness hid them again.

"That was close…" Christine said, eyeing him, and decided not to chase him anymore for now. "But I don't know how they could miss you…." Taking his hand she started to lead him into the backyard. "We should continue talking back here, behind the house."

"I can walk on my own you know," Depth Charge grumbled, but didn't pull his hand away, secretly amused that she intended to lead him.

"Yeah, but you don't know where the guy-wires are that anchor down the radio tower back here. You might hang yourself."

"Oh…"

They walked out into the back of the property just in front of the large pine trees that marked the boundary line between Christine's yard and a farmer's field. The only light they had came from the stars and the moon. She let go of his hand and folded her arms cross her chest, tapping her foot.

"Alright, so WHERE have you been? And HOW did you avoid getting slagged? Come on, speak up!"

Depth Charge looked to the ground, rubbing at the back of his head, shifting uneasily. His usually confident voice came out unsure.

"I'm still trying to piece it together… I remember staring into X's green optics and finally realizing what you've been trying to teach me… And then a flash just before an explosion happened. The next thing I knew I was in warm murky water, damaged but alive. I swam to the surface to look around and saw lots of trees and the shoreline. Then I heard a scream. An old lady in a boat smacked me over the head with an oar and called out, yelling somebody's name. That somebody was a slagging alligator and it attacked me."

"Really?" Christine's jaw dropped in disbelief, and she found it hard to believe him. "So, what, you wrestled the alligator?

"Strangely enough, yes…"

"No way."

"Yes, I did! It bit me! Look!" He showed her his arm, which indeed had teeth marks gauged in the metal. "I'm still pulling gunk out of my joints from being in that water, too."

"Who won?"

"Huh?"

"Who won, you or the alligator?"

"Heh… It put up quite the fight, and the old lady hit me twice more on the head. I was still disorientated from the sudden dimension shift and the battle with X, so I threw the gator on land and took off to find the open ocean. You could say it was a draw."

"Dimension shift? You mean, when you flash yourself from the Beast Wars world to mine?"

"Yes. It's what saved me from dying with X. Because of our connection I ended up in your world, though not where you are. I don't remember flashing myself into your world, though. It just… happened… a split-second before the massive explosion."

"From what it sounds like you were probably down in Louisiana or Florida. But if you were still alive, why did our connection cut off?"

"Probably because of the energon radiation in the explosion just before I flashed here." He shrugged. "Anyway, I found the ocean and… Well, I woke up in beast mode, settled onto the ocean floor. I had to rest and repair, although I don't remember thinking I did. Then I went back to the Beast Wars. I found X's body parts…. I can't believe… He's gone… and I can finally…" Depth Charge sat down heavily, clutching his head in both hands as he started to shake, relief choking in his throat so much he couldn't speak. Instead he continued in his mind in a weak voice that hardly sounded like him at all:

_I can finally rest! No more hunting! But now… now I hardly know what to do…_

_Yes you do._ Christine stood next to him and patted his shoulder. _You'll start something new._

_It's still sinking in, though… X is dead… and I'm not… I fully expected to die with him! Yet I was saved! Why? Somehow it doesn't feel right! It doesn't! I have no idea what to do now… After… after I saw X's remains I went back to the Maximal base… The look on their faces when I showed up…_ He managed a chuckle and his shaking subsided. _They thought I was a ghost, for Pit's sake… This is how a ghost must feel, at least… so lost… and alone…_

"But you're not alone. You have friends like me to help you. I told you, you've got a friend for life in me." Christine spoke aloud, "And you won't be lost forever. You'll start a new future and you'll never have to look back on the time you spent hunting ever again. There is only pain in the past. Now you can find happiness again."

"There isn't _all_ pain," He found his strong voice again, looking up at her. "The something that's been nagging at me…. It's hope. And… you showed it to me." The sorrow in his red optics gave way to the kind light that made it look like he was smiling, and before she could move Depth Charge caught Christine and pulled her into his lap.

"I knew you must have been good for _something_ other than being an annoying kid!" he declared, giving her a gentle-but-rough noogie.

"Aaaahhh! No! Not again! Leggo! _Depth_ _Charge!_" Squirming she tried to get free but couldn't break his iron grip. He laughed and let go after a moment and gazed up at the stars dotting the sky above them.

"Hmm…"

In one smooth motion he carefully picked Christine up, arose from the ground and put her on his shoulder. She squeaked at his sudden movement and wobbled, clinging to his hand to stay balanced. Turning slowly he searched the sky until he found what he wanted.

"Hey kid, see that star right there?" He pointed to the northwest at a faint star hanging by itself in the inky blackness.

"Yeah?"

"That's Cybertron."

Her eyes grew round. "Really?"

"Yeah. That's where I'll be from now on."

"You're going home?"

"Yes. I can't spend much more time here or I'll miss the ride. Although Optimal seemed understanding, the rest are eager to get going. And they want an explanation, too."

"So you're going to tell them about me?"

"Of course."

"Will they believe you?"

"If they don't it's their problem."

"Heh…" Christine leaned against his fin, trying to ignore the immense sadness that threatened to take over. He was going to leave her. She squeezed on his hand and he squeezed back gently. _I'm going to miss you,_ she told him.

_Yeah, I'm going to miss you too, _he replied quietly. _I'm not going to forget you anytime soon; you can count on that. You've got a good heart._

_So do you. _She smiled when he turned his head to give her a questioning gaze.

_Really?_

_Yes. It's buried, but it's there. _

Her winter coat shifted in the winter wind and slapped against his shoulder with a tiny _clink_, interrupting their silent conversation.

"Oh!" Remembering what was in her pocket she searched it and pulled out a stone. She put it in his palm.

"It's not much, but some proof. I found this the other day and thought about giving it to you. It's an agate. They're kinda rare; you can only find them in certain places in the world. See how it's rough on the outside, but when you turn it over to the broken part, it's so beautiful inside?"

Depth Charge did so and nodded. "Yeah."

"It's just like you." She hugged him around the neck again.

"Aw… thanks kid." Genuinely touched, he carefully stowed it away in a compartment in his arm. "I'll keep this safe."

A long silence fell between them as they stargazed together, taking the moment to enjoy each other's company for the last time. Christine pointed out Orion to him again, reminding him of the blue star that held his name.

"Depth Charge?"

"Hmm?"

"Why do you think we were connected?"

He answered without hesitation. "To help each other."

"Yeah. That's what I think too. But will the connection go away since we've done that?"

"Probably. We can't stay connected forever."

"But will I ever see you again?" Christine's voice cracked as she fought to contain fresh tears.

"Can't say. I have a new life to start and you have yours to continue."

"Yeah… but you're my friend…" She sniffled, then shivered in the winter wind. Depth Charge felt her shaking and gently lowered her to the ground, letting her hug his arm. She held onto it tight, fearing that if she loosened he might disappear.

"That you are, and for your friendship I am grateful. I haven't known kindness in a long, long time. Thank you for reminding me what it is, and bringing hope back to me. I'd forgotten what it was." He patted her head with fatherly affection. "And don't worry kid, I might keep an eye on you."

"Really?" She instantly brightened.

"Sure. Somebody's got to make sure you stay out of trouble."

"It's not my fault when it finds me!" She said with a small laugh, then pulled his arm closer. "And thank you for giving me confidence and new strength. I'll always remember what you taught me."

"I didn't give you anything. You had it all along, Christine. I just showed you the way."

"Just as you always had hope. You just had to find it again. Hey… Can I be a robot again?" She gave a hopeful look when he blinked at her. "Please? One more time?"

"I don't know…" He teased, eyeing her thoughtfully, pretending to debate it with stern consideration.

"Pleeeeeeaaaaasse?" Christine let go of his arm and bounced up and down. "I wanna fly again!"

"I could just throw you…"

"No! Not like that! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease Depth Chaaaaarge?"

Watching her bounce, he shrugged, "Oh, alright." He snapped his fingers.

In mid-bounce Christine became the small purple and silver femmebot and she shot upwards with a squeal of joy. Floating down with a huge grin she hovered just in front of Depth Charge. After a moment she squeaked and launched herself at him.

"TACKLE GLOMP!"

"—GAH!" He promptly fell over when she hit him. "Sneak attack! I should have known!"

"Heee! Squishy fishy Depth Charge!" She chirped happily, sitting on his chest much like Tigger does to Winnie the Pooh.

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!" He sat up on his elbows, meeting her optic-to-optic. "I'm a robot. I'm not squishy."

"Are too!" Giggling, she took the opportunity to poke his nose. Depth Charge yelped, covering his face.

"Argh! Now you've done it! I'm going to explode! Run kid!"

"No you're not!"

"Run, I tell you!"

"I'm not moving!"

The two friends stared at each other for a moment, a mischievous glow shining in his optics. Since Christine was a robot again he could afford to be a little rough with her now…

"You can't say I didn't warn you!"

Before she could react he had her pinned down and started a wrestling match. She wiggled out from under him and pounced on his back, making him face-plant into the ground. Growling playfully, Depth Charge reached up to grab her around the middle and sat up, bringing her over his shoulder hanging upside-down. Latching onto his arm she held on tight and no amount of flailing could get her loose. He managed to pry her off after discovering she was ticklish. They tumbled across the yard kicking up dirt and brown grass, laughing and yelling at each other. Eventually they separated and laid on their backs looking up at the stars, exhausted but still laughing.

"Heehee… Oh man…. She'll never believe me when I tell her this…"

"Who?" Depth Charge asked, turning his head to look at her.

"Heh… Oh… my friend down in Florida… I told her about you after we fought in the Beast Wars world, even though I don't think she believed me. She happens to use your name as his nickname, by the way. She's one of your biggest fans."

"Really?"

"Oh yes." She nodded, grinning. "Too bad we can't go see her. It'd be SO much fun to have her meet you. The look on her face would be priceless." Her smile faded. "But you have to go home soon, don't you? Back to the Beast Wars, I mean?" Getting up she walked over to him and sat down in a spot between his fin and side, her blue optics dimmed with sadness. Depth Charge sat up and hugged her against him gently. Yes, he did have to go back. But he didn't want to. Not yet.

"Which way is Florida?"

END!

_Author's final note: There you go everybody! I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it. I learned a lot about myself while writing this, and I hope you guys learned a few things too. Never give up on anything. You are all strong in your own way. Unfortunately an invisible friend can't magically appear to show us, so it's up to each of us to somehow find that strength for ourselves. Also, we are not governed by any fate or destiny other than what we make for ourselves. Never accept things as they are or MAY be because you can change it. Please let me know what you thought of this series! And I may write an epilogue of some sort in the future, so keep an eye out for it! _;)


End file.
